Kutaisi city municipality joined the EU initiative "Mayors for Economic Growth" in 2017 by signing the relevant memorandum and committed to fulfill the issues envisaged by the memorandum. The Mayors for Economic Growth initiative aims to support local governments in the Eastern Partnership countries to actively contribute to local economic development and job creation, and to create favorable conditions for economic, social and cultural participation by local governments.
Within the framework of this initiative and with the technical support of the EU Secretariat in Tbilisi, was prepared the 2019-2020 Local Economic Development Plan (LEDP) of Kutaisi Municipality . It is a medium-term document created on the needs of the private sector, self-government opportunities and their common goals, which is aimed at stimulating entrepreneurial activity in the city, developing human skills related to doing business and increasing the awareness of the city.
The Kutaisi Local Economic Development Plan (LEDP) for 2019-2020 was reviewed by the World Bank experts and the initiative "Mayors for Economic Growth" (M4EG) was recognized as a document in accordance with the principles and was evaluated positively. On this basis, Kutaisi City Municipality was promoted to the status of a current member of the M4EG Club. At the April 24, 2019 sitting of the Kutaisi Municipality Council, the “2019-2020 Local Economic Development Plan of the Kutaisi Municipality” was approved.
A local economic development group was established in Kutaisi Municipality, consisting of 7 members: City Hall (3 members), private sector (1 member), civil society organizations (2 members) and academics (1 member), who were selected based on the recommendations of the respective sectors. According to their influence and interests on local economic development. The group is led by Deputy Mayor of Kutaisi City Municipality - Nino Tvaltvadze. Head of the Economic Development, Local Self-Government Property and Transport Management Service of Kutaisi City Municipality- Giorgi Giorgobiani has been appointed as the Local Economic Development Advisor (Aeg Officer LEDO), who is the main coordinator of the plan development and implementation. The Economic Development Division of the Economic Development, Local Self-Government Property and Transport Management Service with its professional public servants worked with the working group for technical, organizational and information support. Information was collected from the following sources to determine the needs and priorities of the city:
Meetings and discussions with NGOs, business and academia, interviews and surveys with student youth and representatives of homeowners' associations Strategic documents about the city and the region AEG Group Discussions Finally, the AEG Group held 24 working meetings to develop the plan. In the process of developing the AEG plan, the strategic vision of the city and the relevant goals were developed taking into account the suggestions, recommendations and needs of the citizens and the private sector, the achievement of which was planned for 2019-2020. Kutaisi aims to become a city where a developed investment and entrepreneurial environment creates international recognition and contributes to the growth, development and employment of the local economy.
Strategic goal: Improving the investment and entrepreneurial environment. Develop human skills related to doing business. Increase city awareness The implementation of the local economic development plan for Kutaisi City Municipality for 2019-2020 will be coordinated by the Local Economic Development Officer (LEDO), monitored by a group of 5 members, of which 1 is from the local self-government, 2 from the civil sector, 2 from local businesses. Gender balance is maintained in the process of staffing the monitoring group. Monitoring will be carried out at least once every 6 months. The monitoring team will evaluate the implementation of the measures outlined in the AEG plan according to the results and monitoring indicators.