Swiss agency pledges $5m to boost Georgia’s public services

Signing an agreement to establish a grant that would help fund a project to develop Georgia’s municipal services.

Agenda.ge, 07 Jul 2014 - 19:07, Tbilisi,Georgia

A World Bank official and a regional representative from a Swiss development company have signed a $5 million USD contract to develop Georgia’s public service sector.

World Bank regional director for the South Caucasus and regional director of Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency (SDC) today signed an agreement to establish a grant that would help fund a project to develop Georgia’s municipal services.

The project foresees a $5 million USD contribution to a Regional and Municipal Infrastructure Development project, which aimed to improve the reliability, efficiency and infrastructure of public services.

This will be achieved by investing in the renewal of priority local infrastructure and by improving skills and systems of self-government service agencies.

The signing ceremony was attended by Georgia’s Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure Elguja Khokrishvil, his deputy Teimuraz Murghulia, Deputy Finance Minister David Lejava and executive director of the Municipal Development Fund Giorgi Somkhishvili.

From 2014 to 2018, the Municipal Development Fund, together with the Center for Effective Governance System and Territorial Arrangement Reform, will jointly implement the two-part project. The first component of the project includes investing in the direction of infrastructural projects and institutional development.

Within the first component, rehabilitation and expansion of priority municipal services is planned, which will help attract private investments in towns and villages.

The second component, which is financed by the $5 million USD grant provided by the SDC, will help local self-government agencies and the Municipal Development Fund improve their institutional capabilities and quality of work.

Small-sized enterprises will also benefit from the project.

In addition, it is expected that new enterprises will become interested in selected municipalities and as a result, the project will contribute to the increase in revenue and new jobs.