| IFC Helps Improve Business Environment in Georgia |
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31/07/2009 15:37 (112 Day 11:06 minutes ago) | |||||
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(via finchannel.com) Tbilisi , Georgia, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has teamed up with Georgia’s Ministry of Economic Development to create a public service center that could help improve the country’s business environment by reducing administrative barriers.
Georgia is ranked 15th on the ease of doing business among 181 economies worldwide, according to the World Bank Group’s Doing Business [2009] report, yet there are still areas for improvement. The new public service center will help cut red tape, save time for local entrepreneurs, and make processing applications simpler and more transparent. The center, located at the Ministry of Economic Development, is a one-stop-shop for services that used to be scattered among different departments.
“The new center is an important step in reducing bureaucratic barriers as it will provide our citizens and businesses with the necessary services in a more efficient and timely way,” said Lasha Zhvania, Georgia’s Minister of Economic Development. “IFC has helped us a lot in creating and equipping the center and will continue working with us to help raise public awareness.”
As part of this initiative, the Georgia Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank Group co-financed a queue- management system that helps control the flow of visitors and prevents long lines. This helps save time for entrepreneurs and businesses, and they also benefit from more streamlined application and issuance procedures for obtaining licenses, permits, and certificates, as well as dealing with privatization and management of state-owned property issues.
“The center will save a lot of time for entrepreneurs so they can focus on doing business,” said Jyrki Koskelo, IFC Vice President. “It is an important step in our strategy to help improve Georgia’s business environment.”
IFC, in cooperation with the Ministry, will develop checklists for simplifying license application procedure and ensuring timely public services. It will also conduct training courses for the ministry’s staff and develop information materials with frequently asked questions and descriptions of the procedures.
IFC’s donor partners for the Georgia Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank Group are BP and its oil and gas partners and the Canadian International Development Agency.
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