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George Khanishvili participated in the meeting of Civic Committee
The First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Mr. George Khanishvili chaired the online meeting of the Civic Committee at Interagency Coordinating Council for Rural Development .The Civic Committee aims to strengthen cooperation with the civil society, improve planning and implementation of agriculture and rural development policies in line with the EU practice.
In the course of the meeting, Mr. Khanishvili set focus on the current institutional reform undertaking in the Ministry, which is being implemented in cooperation with the project "Promoting Rural Development", within the framework of the European Neighborhood Program for Rural and Agricultural Development (ENPARD) with the support of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The respective reform aims to establish a European-type Managing Authority and Paying Agency in the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture.
"Institutional reform is crucial for transforming the Rural Development Agency into a paying agency. The active involvement of our civil and public sectors is particularly important for implementation of the reform. I would like to express my gratitude to the EU and UNDP experts for their support in developing the action plan" Mr. Khanishvili said.
The Civic Committee held a working meeting, where the EU expert in the Rural Development issues presented his views on the rules and activities carried out by similar committees, he also underlined the role of the parties engaged in the aforementioned process and set focus on the European experience.
The participants also discussed statistical collections developed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, which include macroeconomic indicators reflecting the level and trends of efficiency of economic activity in the field of agriculture, vegetation and livestock. It’s worth mentioning, that these publications are important documents for public and civil society interested in agriculture and rural development.
The online meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Economy and Sustainable Development, Regional and Infrastructure, Education and Science and Justice, as well as the Civic Committee, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and EU expert in the Rural Development issues.