Tbilisi hosts international finance seminar

International financial experts from more than a dozen countries have converged in Tbilisi today to attend the Public Expenditure Management Peer Assisted Learning (PEMPAL) seminar.

Heads of State Treasuries and financial representatives from 15 countries in the European and Central Asia regions are taking part in the three-day international seminar, which was opened by Georgia’s Minister of Finance Nodar Khaduri at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel this morning.

In his speech, the Minister stressed the importance of hosting the PEMPAL conference, which worked in three directions of public finance management: budget, treasury and accounting audit and inner audit.

The seminar’s purpose was to host a number of public expenditure management (PEM) professionals who benchmark and share their own PEM systems with others with the aim of enhancing knowledge transfer between partners.

"The international conference is devoted to accounting standards. We will share our experience and hopefully get interesting remarks that will contribute to the improvement of public finance management,” Khaduri said.

Georgia is represented at the seminar by the Ministry of Finance’s Treasury Department.

The Department will hold an official dinner at the Funicular restaurant, at the top of Mtatsminda this evening. All seminar guests will receive one bottle of ‘Saperavi’ wine as a gift from the State Treasury.

The conference costs will be covered by the PEMPAL program budget.

The PEMPAL program was founded by the World Bank in 2005 and aimed to increase experience and personal development of employees in the public finance management sector. The program unites 21 countries within Central Asia as well as Central and Eastern Europe.