Georgia’s Municipal Development Fund first institution to be granted right to make procurements for ADB-backed projects

Georgia’s Municipal Development Fund has become the first institution to be granted the right to make state procurements for projects supported by the Asian Development Bank, the country’s Ministry of Infrastructure said on Wednesday.

The Ministry said the Bank’s decision had also made the country the first among ADB partner states to enjoy the right for purchases made according to the country’s legislation and procedures.

Masatsugu Asakawa, the Bank’s President, personally handed the certificate confirming the right to Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze and Davit Tabidze, the Director of the Fund.

Eugene Zhukov, the ADB Director General for Central and West Asia, said he was "delighted with the excellent result we achieved together with our colleagues [at the Fund], which is also our most significant partner in Georgia and a client since 2008”.

We have made sure that the internal rules and procedures of the Fund are so strong that they can conduct procurement much more efficiently on their own, following internal procedures. I congratulate them on this success”, he added.

Karseladze called the decision “unprecedented” and said it represented a “result of many years of cooperation” between the Ministry and the Fund.

The body added the Ministry’s “long-term” cooperation with the ADB included projects for the development of road, water supply, education and sports infrastructure, and noted the right granted by the Bank created a “prerequisite” for the implementation of infrastructure projects “on a faster and larger scale”.