Priority sectors of the new Country Strategy for Georgia are agriculture and forestry, which will receive about 70% of available funds. The selection of these sectors was mainly guided by the goal of poverty reduction und of socially and ecologically sustainable development. Despite remarkable economic progress in recent years, about a quarter of Georgia’s population still lives in absolute poverty (see Facts and Figures, socio-economic indicators). Besides the rural population in mountainous regions, the urban unemployed, socially isolated or internally displaced persons as well as single mothers’ households are most severely affected by poverty. Rural poverty is also a main cause of rural-urban migration und emigration. Remittances of seasonal and permanent emigrants represent a sizeable share of national income. Agriculture and forestry still make up more than 16% of the national economy, and are therefore important providers of jobs and income. This aspect was one of the reasons why they were proposed by Georgia as priority areas of the bilateral cooperation and as catalyst for integrated rural development in general.