Tbilisi: As the chief of the Asian Development Bank has visited Georgia recently, the Asian Development Bank has made an unprecedented decision regarding the Municipal Development Fund of Georgia. Asian Development Bank allowed any kind of purchases for the development projects which are being implemented with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank.
As per the latest information available in the public domain Asian Development Bank (ADB) granted authority to the Municipal Development Fund of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia to make any kind of purchases according to Georgian legislation and procedures.
ADB chief Masatsugu Asakava, during his visit to Georgia, personally handed over the certificate confirming this right to the Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Irakli Karseladze, and Executive Director of Municipal Development Fund, DAvid Tabide.
Eugene Zhukov, who is Director of the Department of Central and West Asia of the Asian Development Bank, stated that Georgia is the first country among the bank’s partner countries, and the Municipal Development Fund is the first agency to get these benefits from these special rights obtained from the Asian Development Bank.
On the occasion, Minister Irakli Karseladze said that the “ certificate that was given to us by the ADB chief recognises the Georgian procurement system and the Municipal Development Fund as a partner. With these granted rights, the Municipal Development Fund Agency will be able to use national state procurement procedures for projects financed by the Asian Development Bank, and it will further accelerate the development of projects in a number of directions”.
Similarly, Eugene Zhukov said, “I am excited about the wonderful result we have gained with our colleagues (Municipal Development Fund) agency, which is also our most important partner in the Republic of Georgia and has been our esteemed client since 2008. The Municipal development fund agency has become the first entity to benefit from this right in the Asia-Pacific region. We have assessed that the internal rules and procedures of the Municipal Development Fund are so strong that they can carry out procurement independently without any irregularity, according to internal procedures. I congratulate them on this success,”
It is worth mentioning that the regional development fund agency and infrastructure ministry’s have long-term cooperation with the Asian Development Bank for road, water supply, education and sports infrastructure development projects. The authority granted by the bank creates a prerequisite for larger scale and faster implementation of infrastructure projects in entire areas Of the country.
Notably, the ADB chief, during his visit to Georgia, visited and inspected many ADB-sponsored sites. He also visited the site of the Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel project. The Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel project is being executed with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank. This is one of the major tunnel projects of Georgia and the region.
