EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell visits Adjara to highlight EU support

On 20 - 21 May, Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, Carl Hartzell visits Adjara to highlight EU support to the region. Ambassador Hartzell will meet beneficiaries of EU-funded projects in the areas of economic and rural development, business, entrepreneurship support, environment and more, as well as representatives of government, NGOs, media.

According to the EU Delegation to Georgas, the official visit will start on May 20, in Keda municipality, Adjara to see the results and achievements of the four-year work of the EU-supported "Keda Leader" project.

“The visit will include a meeting with the EU supported Local Action Group (LAG) as well as site visits to six EU-funded local development initiatives:

09:45 - Dried fruit enterprise "Kerki" (location pin- shorturl.at/bnFR4)

11:00 - Press point will be arranged at "Château Iveri" (Varjanisi, Keda 6100)

14:00 - Luxury camping "Hill Inn"

15:30 - Town Keda Public School

16:15 - Veterinary Clinic

17:30 – Tourists' Cottages and Winery "Shervashidzeebi's Winery"

The EU's ENPARD rural development project "Optimising the Potential of Local Assets for Rural Development of Keda Municipality" (Keda Leader) is implemented since 2017 by the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN) in partnership with the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), Institute of Democracy (IoD) and the Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning (ÖIR).

The project helped mobilize local communities and initiate various social and economic actions to improve lives in rural Adjara. Key achievements of the projects are the establishment of Local Action Groups (LAGs) in Keda. Keda LAG has mobilized local communities, brought together civil society, private and public sector representatives and designed local development strategies to meet the local priorities and needs. The EU supported total of 97 development initiatives and helped create over 300 new jobs through the LAG. These initiatives promote local entrepreneurship and diversification of economic and social activities in various areas, including agriculture, tourism, infrastructure development, education, environment, municipal services, etc.

The EU is supporting agriculture and rural development in Georgia through its ENPARD Programme. Implemented since 2013 with a total budget of EUR 234.5 million, the main goal of ENPARD is to provide economic opportunities in rural area and reduce poverty in Georgia. More information on ENPARD is available at www.eu4Georgia.ge/enpard. More information on Keda LAG is available at www.kedalag.ge”, reads the information released by the EU Delegation.