Vano Grigolashvili, the chairman of RDFG together with ENPARD partner organizations implementing the rural development projects in Georgia, signed the communique for supporting establishment of the Georgian Association of Local Action Groups (GALAG). The GALAG will unite municipal level LAGs in Georgia, and will actively cooperate with the European Association of LAGs to implement joint rural development initiatives in the country.

“By signing the communique, RDFG once again confirmed, that we support LEADER approach implementation in Georgia and for this purpose, we use our partner, Lithuanian LAG Network’s experience. We are ready to cooperate with Georgian Association of Local Action Groups (GALAG) as well as with European institutions of Rural Development. I think, that GALAG is a good instrument, especially for new LAGs, to share information and experience, discuss strategical issues and create joint vision” – Said Vano Grigolashvili, RDFG chairman.

The communique was signed within the framework of third international conference “Rural Development in Georgia”, that was organized through ENPARD program. RDFG was presented by Nelly Revazishvili, the manager of ENPARD’s project “Rural Development for sustainable growth of Tetritskaro municipality”, who introduced the projects and its achievements.

RDFG implements “Rural Development for Sustainable Growth of Tetritskaro Municipality” in the framework of the second phase of European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development – ENPARD.

ENPARD II uses a LEADER approach to economic development. Fundamentally, it is the energy and resources of the local people that contribute to the rural development process by forming partnerships at a sub-regional level between the public, private and civil sectors. The LEADER approach is associated with local empowerment through local strategy development and resource allocation. The main tool for the application of the LEADER approach to area development and involving local representatives in decision-making is the Local Action Group (LAG).

The project partners are Agro-Technology Association (ATA), Lithuanian Local Action Groups Network and the Ministry of Agriculture of Lithuania.