Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) was the main partner of Eurochambres in the project “East Invest” under the EU Commission Initiative “Eastern partnership”. The aim of the project was to support Eastern Partnership countries: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Moldova and Belorussia.
One of the main goals of the “East Invest 2” was to support and enhance BSO’s capacities in Eastern Partnership countries, provide them with thorough services and raise awareness regarding DCFTA regulations and EU legislation.
During a 20-month Twinning program with Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris (CCIP) aimed to establish DCFTA information centers in Georgia. The Group of CCIP representatives have visited Tbilisi on 12-14 April, 2016 to deepen the knowledge regarding DCFTA implementation process in Georgia and to identify the needs of Georgian private sector. On November 23-25, 2016 GCCI representatives visited CCIP in Paris and received training where they had an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the export-related EU and DCFTA regulations.
Furthermore, “SME Academy” course was launched on October of 2016 under the scope of “East Invest 2” project. 5 directions related to agro-food production were selected for the course:
- DCFTA results on National level and the ways of execution.
- Technical standards and regulations of EU specially related to agro-food production sector.
- The readiness for export of the eastern partnership country business sector.
- The networking, communication with potential business partners and participation in exhibition.
The first round of trainings were held in Westerham (Germany) in November of 2016 which was attended by 6 business associations from Georgia. Another round of trainings were conducted on 13-15 April 2016 which was organized by GCCI in Hotel “Citrus” in Tbilisi. Twenty-seven agro-food production SME’s representatives were participating in the training. The EU Market accessibility was the main topic of the training.
The aim of the training was to provide business entities, who were interested in exporting their products to EU with thorough information about the new regulations established after the Association Agreement; which mainly included the DCFTA framework in EU. To increase export potential and competitiveness on the market, participants have been introduced to relevant EU policies, market structure and requirements that Georgian companies should abide in order to meet export requirements.
Project trainees participated in the lecture covering topics addressing technical standards, marketing, and readiness for export. The training was led by EU experts from various countries like: Belgium, Italy, Lithuania, Austria etc.
The training courses for BSO’s were conducted within the scope of “East Invest 2” - BSO Academy. 30 business associations took part in the training. Further trainings were organized in Westerham (Germany). Each training lasted for 3 days and were concentrated on the following issues:
Advocacy and representation (2016, 5- 8 January)
Reform of BSO’s (2016, 9-12 February)
Sustainable development model of BSO’s: income generation and services (2016, 20-23 June)
Operation in competitive markets: attracting new partners and maintaining the old ones. (2016, 29 November – 2 December)
