Ethnic Diversity Festival 2009 kicks off

The ”Ethnic Diversity Festival 2009” opened in Rustavi yesterday. It began with an exhibition which included examples of rural production, cultural identity corners and a photo exhibition entitled “Diversity is Our Wealth”. Alongside that a round table meeting on “Prospects of Cross-Border Cooperation” took place in the Kvemo Kartli Governor’s Administration building.

“We have shared information on our current and planned activities, experiences and lessons learnt in respective fields and discuss existing problems and ways of overcoming them. It was interesting to meet the Georgian authorities and international community representatives working on cross-border cooperation issues between Georgia and Armenia,” said Gayane Avagian, from the Shirak Competitiveness Centre in Armenia.

Along with this centre 10 associations and farmers from Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli from the Georgian side and Lori, Shirak and Tavush from the Armenian side are participating in the festival, which is being organised by CARE International in the Caucasus and the Civil Development Agency (CiDA) as part of the project “Poverty Reduction and Confidence-building in Border Areas of Georgia and Armenia by Strengthening Civil Societies in Sustainable Rural Development" (STAGE II). The festival will last for two days and the second day will be devoted to training on diversity management issues.

“The goal of the project is to strengthen 10 targeted civil society institutions and local authorities from the border regions and provide increased cross-border cooperation for sustainable rural development,” says Ketevan Kheladze, STAGE II project manager. Accodring to Kheladze the total Budget of the project is 463.980 Euro. The project started began May 1, 2009 and will last until October 31, 2011.

“Such projects are rather important for both countries as the border areas of Georgia and Armenia have substantial potential to form a rather attractive investment zone. For this to happen however, we should continue our work on harmonising fields of law, transportation and tax systems and introducing good governance, all of which should create a common investment environment,” Prof. Kote Khmaladze, head of the Regional Economic Development Department of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia said.

The STAGE II project is being implemented by CARE Osterreich and CARE International in the Caucasus and partner organizations the Civil Development Agency (CiDA) in Georgia and the Centre for Agribusiness and Rural Development (CARD) in Armenia. STAGE II is financed by the Austrian Development Cooperation and Cooperation with Eastern Europe (ADC).