Developing Construction Permits System in Afghanistan

Dec, 2014

On December 21, Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) presented recommendations for streamlining and re-engineering construction permitting in the Kabul Municipality elaborated within the Afghanistan Construction Permits Reform Project funded by World Bank/IFC. PMCG presented numerous recommendations mostly focused on the reduction of procedures, timeframes and costs as well as the reduction of interaction between government and private sector by introducing a One-Stop Shop to reduce the possibility of corruption. The project aimed to support the Government of Afghanistan at central and municipal level in Kabul by streamlining the construction permitting process and related pre-approvals, creating a transparent and simplified regulatory framework, which realizes public good health and safety policy objectives and reduces the complexity of the process, building the capacity of the civil servants capable of implementing the reforms.Within the framework of the project, PMCG has provided process maps of the new construction permit process, new process user manual and brochures, proposed legal changes for the process and the new organizational chart of the permit issuing agency.

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Tamar Kaphianidze Public Private Dialogue Expert Joins PMCG Team

Dec, 2014

Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) is pleased to announce that Tamar Kaphianidze, a Public Private Dialogue (PPD) expert, has joined our team. Kaphianidze has extensive experience in the field of PR and communications. For nearly 8 years, she has worked intensively to strengthen communication and collaboration between public, private and NGO sectors. As a public relations specialist, she has contributed in raising awareness of numerous projects supported by international donor organizations including Economic Prosperity Initiative (EPI) Georgia by USAID Georgia and also assisted private companies to effectively communicate and distribute their products and services to their target audiences.“I’m really glad to become a part of PMCG’s family, which is full of motivated professionals, who are oriented toward facilitating changes. I’m sure that working with PMCG will give me more opportunities to contribute to development and delivering progress in transitional countries,” said Kaphianidze. As an open-minded company, we continue to intensively headhunt internationally to enrich our team with multi-talented individuals with extensive experience in the fields of policy advising, institutional development, monitoring and evaluation, infrastructure development and corporate development.

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PMCG Assesses Importance of Association Agreement for European Integration of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine

Dec, 2014

Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) congratulates the government and the citizens of Georgia on the ratification of the Association Agreement by the European Parliament.The EU’s Association Agreement with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine will play a key role in consolidating reforms in these countries and assisting them in democratic and sustainable development on the path to European integration, where a market-based and private-sector driven economy prevails.The Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), which is an integral part of the Association Agreement, opens up markets through the progressive removal of customs tariffs and quotas, and harmonizing laws, norms and regulations in various trade-related sectors. The Association Agreement will create an environment for businesses in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to access one of the world’s biggest markets as well as opportunities to obtain international investments and partners to expand new horizons. “The Association Agreement is a result of the reforms and policy the countries have introduced. At this stage, the timely and proper implementation of the steps towards entering the EU family has crucial importance,” says Aleksi Aleksishvili, General Director at PMCG, adding that “assessing the country’s competitive advantage, targeting the most promising fields in the short-run, that might have spill-over effect and useful gains in the future is very important”. “Enhanced dialogue and informed policy elaboration is essential to ensure coordination between private and public sector. The experiences of Central European countries and the Baltic States show that proper communication and coordination between business and the government always play a key role in successful implementation of the EU association agenda,” explains Nino Samvelidze, EU Programs Manager at PMCG. PMCG is actively involved in assisting Georgian, Moldovan and Ukrainian governments and business sectors in legal and institutional alignment with EU standards and will further enhance its role and engagement to assist these countries and their governments in proper and efficient implementation of the Association Agreement. PMCG also provides consulting services for local businesses interested in exporting to the EU market and, in turn, assists EU companies while investing in these countries.  

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Enhancing the Forestry Agency of Adjara

Dec, 2014

On December 18, Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) held a working meeting at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia with the representatives of the Ministry, Forestry Agency of Adjara, National Forestry Agency, Agency of Protected Areas, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN). The meeting was held at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia, under the project “Mid-Term Institutional Development Strategic Plan” for Forestry Agency of Adjara. Consultants from PMCG presented participants with the main goals and objectives of the project, as well as the best ways to achieve them. The meeting took on an interactive character as each of the participants expressed their opinion about the process of the Agency’s development. The discussion was also helpful for the consultants of PMCG to clearly analyze the current situation and to define effective steps in the process of enhancing the Forestry Agency of Adjara. The project is taking place with the support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and CENN. PMCG’s consultants will elaborate a 4-year, mid-term institutional development strategy with an action plan linked to the budget of the organization; detailed annual work-plans for each structural unit of the agency, and the performance management plans (PMPs) and internal monitoring tools. The collaboration is focused on the citizens who would benefit most from an efficient Agency that effectively implements its major goals and objectives, including: Protection and restoration of the forest; management of the forest fund; sustainable use of the diverse biological components in the forest area; regulation of the forest use and implementation of the forest’s maintenance and recovery activities.

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Leading Tax Policy Expert Joins PMCG Team

Dec, 2014

Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) is pleased to announce that Zaza Chelidze, one of the leading economic policy experts in Georgia, has joined our team. As an established professional, Chelidze will support the Government of Georgia (GoG) in the economic reforms process, under USAID Georgia’s five-year project Governing for Growth (G4G) in Georgia.Chelidze has accumulated extensive experience in the fields of economic policy elaboration while occupying such positions as Analytics Director at JSC Partnership Fund of Georgia; Executive Director and Chairman of the Board at National Statistics Office of Georgia (GEOSTAT); Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Finance of Georgia and the Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia.As part of our policy and culture, we are always open to working with innovative professionals with sound experience in facilitating development and delivering progress to countries in transition. Accordingly, we are pleased to have a chance to enhance PMCG’s main asset - its team - with the unique experience and knowledge of Chelidze. “PMCG has been supporting the Government of Georgia to develop and implement effective policy reforms for years. I’m glad to join the PMCG team which is focused on continuous development and to contribute to the effective fiscal legislation enforcement,” declared Chelidze.

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PMCG’s Ketevan Babiashvili Certified as Project Management Professional

Dec, 2014

Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) would like to congratulate one of its outstanding team members, Public Sector Project Manager Ketevan Babiashvili on attaining Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. We are very pleased that our team members share PMCG’s values and are oriented toward continuous development to deliver progress to our clients and effectively contribute to success.PMP is a globally recognized and coveted certification, reflecting the significant knowledge and value of professionals with sound experience of leading and managing projects. Babiashvili joined our team at the beginning of 2013. The main areas on which her activities are focused include capacity building, institutional development, impact assessment and economic policy analysis.

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Discussing Georgia’s DCFTA Opportunities and Challenges

Dec, 2014

On December 10, Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) represented by General Director Aleksi Aleksishvili participated enthusiastically in an international conference, held in Brussels, covering the challenges which Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova may face on their way to EU integration. Aleksishvili began his speech by emphasizing the beneficial impact of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) for the Georgian economy and underlined the new opportunities which the Agreement might bring for the citizens of Georgia. In addition, Aleksishvili highlighted the number of challenges the country may face and the risk avoidance measures that should be enacted. These included empowering capacities of relevant agencies to ensure institutional and administrative support of the process, increasing competitiveness for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and enhancing dialogue and informed policy elaboration to ensure coordination between the private and public sector.During the event, Aleksishvili underlined that "Georgia has to avoid any delay in the implementation process of DCFTA and it is essential to have enhanced coordination between the government and private sector to fully benefit from the opportunities the DCFTA offers.”  The conference was organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation together with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, which gathered high-level officials, experts and civil society representatives from Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova as well as policy makers from the EU countries.

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Strengthening Institutional Capacity of Adjara Forestry Agency

Nov, 2014

On November 27, Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) held a meeting with Vakhtan Tsuladze, Chairman of Directorate for Environment and Natural Resources of Autonomous Republic of Adjara, to discuss the challenges the Adjara Forestry Agency (AFA) faces related to institutional development and capacity building. The meeting had a working format and served as the beginning of another stage of collaboration with the Government of Autonomous Republic of Adjara (GoARA) that envisages the development of a 4-year strategic plan. PMCG has already provided assistance to numerous GoARA ministries and agencies to strengthen its institutional capacity and to deal with its policy challenges.The AFA shared its vision of the Agency’s development, as well as the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats with PMCG’s team of professionals in the framework of the meeting and the major outline of the action plan was subsequently agreed. The project is funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN). The major goal of the collaboration is to support the AFA in the strategic planning process, the mid-term institutional development strategy, covering the action plan linked to the budget of the Agency, detailed annual work plans for each structural unit of the AFA, as well as the Performance Management Plans (PMPs) and internal monitoring tools measuring and evaluating the strategy implementation process. Follow the link below for detailed information:Mid-Term Institutional Development Strategic Plan for the Adjara Forestry Agency (AFA)

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PMCG Participates and Presents at the 11th Vienna Economic Forum

Nov, 2014

On November 24, Aleksi Aleksishvili, General Director at Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) participated at the 11th Vienna Economic Forum. Aleksishvili talked about the impact of PMCG’s support given to countries in the Balkans to improve Public Financial Management (PFM) and develop business-enabling environments. “It is our privilege to be part of this event. We are glad to use this opportunity to share our experience and hear about our partners’ activities in countries in the Balkans and the Eastern Europe,” stated Aleksishvili. The annual forum was officially launched in 2004 and since then the event has been focused on promoting economic cooperation between countries from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. The Forum brings together around 300 high-level officials from all across the world. Elena Kirtcheva, Member of the Board and Secretary General of Vienna Economic Forum, opened the event with a panel discussion “The Economy is the Motor – Visions and Responsibilities in a Changing Time”. The keynote speakers of the panel included: Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania; Nikola Gruevski, President of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia; Milo Djukanovic, Prime Minister of Montenegro; Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); Werner Faymann, Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria; and Erhard Busek, President of Vienna Economic Forum and former Vice Chancellor of the Republic of Austria. At the Forum there were several other panel discussions, covering topics related to information technology and energy efficiency, as well as the role of cooperation between the Black Sea and the Danube region and the crucial linkage role this plays now, and will continue to play in the future.

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Georgia is Regional Anti-Corruption Leader, According to Worldwide Governance Indicators

Nov, 2014

The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), the World Bank’s long-standing research program, recently issued its results from 2013 in which Georgia was a stand-out performer.The country achieved the highest possible score in every indicator of the study covering the following segments: Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Lack of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law and Control of Corruption. Georgia’s excellent results were most notable in the Control of Corruption part where it scored 66.5, representing a 25-point increase on its average between 1996 and 2013. According to the WGI, this specific index captures perceptions of the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain, including both petty and substantial forms of corruption, as well as “capture” of the state by elite and private interests. In the South Caucasus region, Georgia’s rating far exceeds that of its neighbors Armenia (39.7) and Azerbaijan (18.7) while the country also scored higher than some EU countries including Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Greece. “Control of Corruption is a very important indicator that is a necessary condition for the country’s further development. It is good that an international organization recognizes the progress being made,” said Aleksi Aleksishvili General Director at PMCG, who emphatically added, “The government should continue its activities for more progress.” The WGI are a research dataset summarizing views on the quality of governance provided by a large number of enterprises, citizens and experts in industrial and developing countries. These data are gathered from a number of survey institutes, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, international organizations and private sector firms.

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