"We're continuing to partner with the government. This year, we have five programs, all with the government, including some initial response back in May to help the government support households and businesses. We just approved a $150 million sector development program on Wednesday to improve Georgia's water supply and sanitation services,"- said Asian Development Bank's Country Director for Georgia, Shane Rosenthal, in an interview with The CheckPoints.
According to Rosenthal, much of the program is focused on Telavi, where the water mains and the water distribution system, some reservoirs, and other infrastructure will be upgraded. It will also help with the operation of maintenance equipment across more than 50 other towns and cities. This program, he says, focuses not just on the investment side but also on the operations side, the management side helping the United Water Supply Company of Georgia, one of the country's largest water utilities.
As the Country Director depicts, the program will help with improving the corporate governance, putting in place change management process to improve efficiency, bringing more females into the supervisory and management positions, saving costs, and preparing for some options in the future, where the private sector could play a greater role.
"We're also working toward a new program to support vocational skills development in Georgia. It is crucial to enable companies to access the skills they need to do business better here in Georgia. We're also working on a program to help the government with the reforms it's making in the electricity sector to improve the way the transmission company operates,"- he said.
