EU officials Meredith, Hartzell meet beneficiaries of EU-funded projects in Georgia
EU officials Meredith and Hartzell have visited Imereti and Adjara to highlight the EU’s support to Georgian regions. Photo: Carl Hartzell's Twitter account.
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Lawrence Meredith, Director for Neighbourhood East and Institution Building at the European Commission and Carl Hartzell, Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, have visited Imereti and Adjara to highlight the EU’s support to Georgian regions.
The visit, which took place on 20-21 October, centred around the EU’s Economic and Investment Plan for Georgia and focused on connectivity issues in and around the Black Sea.
The EU delegation in Georgia tweeted:
This week, Director @LMeredithEU and Ambassador @CarlHartzellEU travelled through Imereti and Adjara to highlight the impact of the EU's support for citizens.
— EU Delegation Georgia ???????? (@EUinGeorgia) October 22, 2021
Find out more about the trip and our ideas within the Economic and Investment Plan: https://t.co/gxYAQKjmbH#EU4Georgia pic.twitter.com/7gE9vwOulx
At first, Lawrence and Hartzell visited Baia’s Wine, a winery owned by young female entrepreneur Baia Abuladze in the village of Obcha, Imereti. The guests visited the vineyard and learned about traditional methods of wine-making.
Carl Hartzell tweeted:
Lunch break at Baia's Wine in Imereti with @LMeredithEU. Happy to see that European advice has helped these young female winemakers create high quality products and take full advantage of the ???????????????? #DCFTA.#EU4Georgia pic.twitter.com/6lA5SCH2gn
— Carl Hartzell (@CarlHartzellEU) October 20, 2021
The visit continued in Zeniti, a small village in the Kobuleti municipality of the Adjara region. Under the EU’s Economic and Investment Plan and in cooperation with EIB, 1,000 rural communities like Zeniti will receive a high-speed internet connection.
The first day concluded in Tsikhisdziri, Kobuleti municipality. Meredith and Hartzell visited Shukura, a local restaurant which has recently employed five young people with hearing impairments, who found this opportunity through the Batumi Job Fair, organized within the EU’s Skills4Jobs program.
The second day was spent in Adjara’s capital city of Batumi. The EU officials visited the site of the residential building which tragically collapsed on October 8.
During their visit in Batumi Port, the guests emphasized the potential impact of the Economic and Investment Plan on transport connections through the Black Sea.
The delegation proceeded to visit a local construction company, Nova, which has expanded its production thanks to the EU4Business-EBRD Credit Line.
Finally, the two-day visit concluded with Black Sea Connectivity Talks. The EU officials, representatives of the EIB, EBRD, and the World Bank, discussed their visions of the Black Sea's future with local youth and entrepreneurs.
Lawrence Meredith tweeted:
Great to meet w/ Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia @MTA_Georgia today, together w/ @EIB @EBRD @EUinGeorgia ???????? to discuss how to strengthen Black Sea connectivity, enhance ???????? Georgia’s export potential & create jobs for young people! pic.twitter.com/NsofpSNSv1
— Lawrence Meredith ???????? (@LMeredithEU) October 21, 2021
Due to COVID-19, the discussion was held in a hybrid format with a limited number of participants attending the event.