JVI Outreach Visit to Georgia

Since 2014 the IMF and the JVI have collaborated with the Georgian Ministry of Finance Academy on a set of training courses for public officials from the Caucasus and Central Asia. These courses – usually three per year – take place in Tbilisi at the Ministry of Finance Academy, and they have been very well received.

In December, the three partners – Minister of Finance Mr. Ivane Matchavariani, IMF Institute for Capacity Development Director Ms. Sharmini Coorey, and I for the JVI – signed a new Memorandum of Understanding extending the program through 2020. This agreement reflects the importance which all three partners attach to continuing education of officials of public institutions, particularly central banks and economics-oriented ministries.

We took the opportunity of our visit to Georgia to meet with senior staff in the ministries of finance and economy, as well as the National Bank of Georgia, to discuss training needs and priorities for the coming years. 

In addition, we organized a small reception in Tbilisi for recent alumni of the JVI. This event was well attended, and it provided evidence of the life-long friendships that can grow out of training at the Joint Vienna Institute. Nearly thousand people from Georgia have attended courses at the JVI over the past quarter century, including high-ranking officials such as Governor Gvenetadze. We are proud of their accomplishments, and are pleased that the JVI has been able to make a small, but sustained, contribution to Georgia’s economic development over this period.

Thomas Richardson, Director, JVI