USAID, Visa team up to support SME development, strengthen digital ecosystem in Georgia
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The United States Agency for International Development and Visa are starting a new partnership aiming at supporting the strengthening of Georgian-based small and medium-sized businesses and the digitisation of their activities.
Visa announced on Friday the move would look to boost inclusive economic growth and extension of digital capabilities, as well as access for citizens in the country, with the sides signing a corresponding memorandum of understanding earlier today.
As part of the partnership the organisations will develop and implement joint programmes that will focus on digital transformation, enhancement of digital literacy with specific focus on micro and small entrepreneurs, as well as on the economic empowerment of women and the integration of vulnerable groups.
The initiative will also seek to facilitate the extension of e-commerce, financial inclusion and transactions, positioning Georgia as a “regional hub and a safe place” for investment.
“The expertise of both Visa and USAID programme will enable us to facilitate the digitalisation of [Georgia’s] economy [...] I truly believe that our cooperation with USAID will contribute to Georgia’s economic advancement and bring value in coordination to your beautiful country“, Salvador Perez-Galindo, senior vice president and head of government engagement for Visa CEMEA, said.
The United States Agency for International Development is launching a five-year programme designed to create jobs and improve livelihoods of people living in over 90 communities along the administrative line separating the Russian-occupied regions from the rest of the country.
Georgian customers will be able to make cashless Euro payments via credit transfer and direct debit anywhere in the European Union as well as a number of non-EU countries, with the country preparing to join the Single Euro Payments Area, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced on Monday.
Georgia takes the first place globally in terms of the percentage of contactless payments in domestic transactions followed by Australia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Cyprus, announced Visa earlier today.
Developers in Georgia are being given the opportunity to freely access the world’s largest payment processing network.
The United States Agency for International Development has allocated a grant of $220,000 for supporting financial market development in Georgia, the national bank of Georgia announced on Wednesday.
The involvement of women in economic activities, especially in the field of information technology, is one of the priorities of the Economy Ministry, Irakli Nadareishvili, the Deputy Economy Minister said on Tuesday at the official launch of the new partnership between the United States Agency for International Development and the Business Technology University.
The first gender bond in the South Caucasus region is being launched in Georgia to support women-owned businesses with $7 million support of the Asian Development Bank, the ADB announced on Monday.
The prospects of the existing and future cooperation, including in trade and economics, were reviewed on Thursday by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Erin McKee, the Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia at USAID.
A €5.1 million programme of the European Union and the United Nations, implemented in Georgia between 2019-2023 have “directly benefited” up to 100 small and medium-sized enterprises across the country and played a “significant role” in establishing four business clusters, the Georgian office of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations said on Tuesday.