Tbilisi forum discusses significance of diaspora in promoting Georgian culture
Speakers also discussed the entrepreneurial and investment environment, as well as national and international business support programmes in the Georgian Diaspora for the Development panel, which also focused on the country’s Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the European Union and its benefits for citizens of Georgia. Photo: Foreign Ministry.
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Officials and professionals in Tbilisi discussed the importance of diaspora in promoting Georgian culture abroad in a forum dedicated to cultural diplomacy, digital diaspora and more on Saturday, the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Organised in thematic panels, the forum - entitled Georgian Diaspora for the European Future of Georgia - hosted discussions on subjects ranging from potential of Georgian youth in serving interests of the country abroad to questions of modern emigration.
The Cultural Diplomacy panel of the event focused on combining the experiences of the historical diaspora and modern emigration in the development of cultural diplomacy, while the role of Georgian citizens living abroad in promoting Georgia as an European society was also highlighted.
Photo: Foreign Ministry
At a separate working session on the Digital Diaspora, innovative approaches and opportunities for the growing use of information and communication technologies in enabling continuous communication, sustainable cooperation, service delivery and involvement of diaspora in the country’s development process were reviewed.
At a panel dedicated to the Georgian language, held in a hybrid mode, a particular attention was paid to issues related to the teaching of the Georgian language in Sunday schools abroad.
Speakers also discussed the entrepreneurial and investment environment, as well as national and international business support programmes in the Georgian Diaspora for the Development panel, which also focused on the country’s Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the European Union and its benefits for citizens of Georgia.
Organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Forum was dedicated to Diaspora Day and opened on Friday.
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Georgian diaspora communities took the “special responsibility” of caring for their compatriots during the Covid-19 pandemic, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said on Thursday at the ceremony for the Successful Emigrants Award.
Within the framework of the global conference, the Global Conference for Diaspora Networks in Science, a session titled Georgian Diaspora and Science Across Borders, was held on Thursday.
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Select members of the Georgian diaspora abroad were on Friday awarded for promoting the country’s culture abroad and contributing to public diplomacy and economic development.
International organisations have commended Georgia's state policy towards the diaspora and programmes supporting young expats at the 14th Summit of the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Geneva this week, the Georgian foreign office said on Friday.