EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti on his first official visit to Georgia

16-7-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — The President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Sir Suma Chakrabarti, makes his first official visit to Georgia on 16 July, during a tour of South Caucasus countries.

During the three-day visit Sir Suma will meet with Georgian government officials, including the Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili; the Minister of Finance, Nodar Khaduri; the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Giorgi Kvirikashvili; the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Georgia, Kakha Kaladze; the President of the National Bank of Georgia, Giorgi Kadagidze, as well as representatives of local partner banks and businesses.

President Chakrabarti began his visit to the South Caucasus in Azerbaijan on 14 July. Following his time in Georgia, on 18 July Sir Suma will arrive in Armenia.

The EBRD plans to approve its new country strategy for Georgia in September 2013. The updated strategy will have three main priorities: fostering private sector investment; supporting further modernisation of the energy sector with a modern regulatory framework; and promoting Georgia’s regional and global economic integration with an emphasis on projects in the infrastructure, logistics, telecommunications and financial sectors.

To date, the Bank has invested a total of €1.8 billion for 158 projects in various sectors of the Georgian economy, mobilising a further €3 billion for those ventures from other sources of financing.

Sir Suma was elected EBRD President in 2012 and assumed the role on 3 July 2012, becoming the sixth President of the Bank. Previously he was Permanent Secretary at the UK Ministry of Justice and earlier held the same post in the Department for International Development. A graduate of Oxford and Sussex universities, Sir Suma worked with the British government from 1984 onward and was awarded the title of Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB).

Loretta Martikian
Tel: +995 322 44 74 11