| On March 20 – 21, 2018 the third capacity building training for regional civil society organizations took place in Mtskheta, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region. The training was led by one of the project implementers, the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP), whose representative, Natia Daghelishvili, provided trainees with information about the DCFTA, including what are DCFTA benefits for Georgia, what does it offer for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and how the latter can engage into the European single market. |
| The training in Mtskheta was attended by 17 representatives of civil society organizations, among which were Farmer’s Club of Dusheti, Women Association “Bazaleti”, Union for Civic Development and others. The purpose of the training was to increase civil society representatives’ knowledge about DCFTA and to involve them into the project by providing capacities to inform Georgian public about DCFTA/SME strategy implementation and to assist local small and medium entrepreneurs that they could use DCFTA provided opportunities and would prepare to export to the European market. |
| Prior to the training, the majority of the participants indicated that they did not have enough information about general standards and quality requirements for exporting to the European Union. During the training session, the practical examples allowed the participants to become better acquainted with the EU standard system, etc. Also, it is worth mentioning that, at the end of the training, almost all of the participants expressed their intention to disseminate acquired information about the DCFTA with different stakeholders. |
| The next phase of involving trained civil society organizations in the project activities will be announcing a call for sub-granting, which will allow regional organizations to apply for funds to implement activities related to implementing DCFTA/SME communication campaign and to consult regional small and medium entrepreneurs on DCFTA. |
| Additionally, to the training, an introductory session to the DCFTA Local Advisory Council (LAC) was also conducted. Starting from May, 2018, regular meetings of public officials, civil society and SME representatives is to take place in Mtskheta-Mtianeti region. This introductory session was accompanied by 25 various public officials representing relevant government bodies at regional and municipal levels, as well as local business representatives. |
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