The official visit of the Vice-Speaker of the Parliament, Zurab ABASHIDZE to Latvia and Lithuania will be held on March 11-15, 2013. The Georgian delegation is composed of the MPs, Erekle TRIPOLSKI, Gia ZHORZHOLIANI, Zakaria KUTSNASHVILI and Nodar EBANOIDZE, also the representatives of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure and municipalities. The visit is organized by UNDP, with financial support by the Sweden Development and Cooperation Agency.

After 2012 Parliamentary Elections, the new Government of Georgia represented the ambitious plan of reforming in municipal and regional authorities. The objective of the reform is to provide real decentralization of authority system in Georgia and enhancement of local and regional municipalities.

According to the Governmental program, the authorities and resources for local and regional municipalities shall significantly increase. In order to provide effective planning and implementation of the reform, it is of utmost importance to share experience of central European states.

The aim of the visit is to share Latvian and Lithuanian experience in regional development sphere, also enhancement of cooperation and partnership between Georgia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The Delegation will hold the meetings with the MPs and Heads of the Parliamentary Committees of Latvia and Lithuania, will visit the Ministries, local and regional municipalities.