Top Reformer Votes Today

Georgia, the top reformer in Doing Business 2007, and also the country that has improved the most on the ease of doing business since 2003, is busy voting Wednesday.

The ruling party is expected to win a majority. A second term will cement the big advances in the business environment made during the first mandate.

The theme of the campaign is job creation. The economy has grown at a brisk pace - over 9% in each of the last 4 years. Yet the number of jobs has increased by less: mainly because the large job increases in the private sector were pitted against reducing the size of government and government employment. Also, new technology in some sectors, for example in wineries, allow for a more capital-intensive process.

As the economy continues its growth, the services and agriculture sectors are growing too and more jobs are opening. The banking sector creates the most opportunities for high-paying jobs, and many young graduates go there.

The new prosperity has allowed the government to finance large infrastructure projects, linking regions that were previously hard to do business with. This brings more road construction jobs to poorer regions. Most importantly, it will bring other employment once the roads are opened.

Still, a lot remains to be done and a second term in office will be as busy as the first.