Caucasian Journal and ICC Georgia to set up the first Eurasia Investment Channel, for worldwide promotion of best investment projects

14.07.2020. Below we republish an ICC Georgia's press release.

ICC Georgia to set up the first Eurasia Investment Channel, for worldwide promotion of best investment projects

EURICA (Eurasia Investment Channel and Analytics) is a joint project of ICC Georgia, Caucasian Journal and Channel Georgia Consulting.

Through EURICA, ICC Georgia will select and promote Georgia and the region’s best investment projects internationally, via global ICC network, YouTube, LinkedIn, printed mass medias and television.

EURICA will select the best investment projects and produce its own videos for them, to offer maximum promotion through international news distribution channels.

“The world is different in post -Covid era, and the winners will be those who are the first to adapt to new reality. Competition is increasing as many more companies are now seeking investments. At the same time, investors are also in dire need of lucrative new opportunities, after months of slowdown. Online and remote work is our new standard, resulting in faster communication and decision-making. We are introducing EURICA to offer unique investment promotion toolset not just to ICC members, but to all companies with sound, well-prepared investment projects,” – said Fady ASLY, Chairman of ICC Georgia.

Meni BENISH of Israel-Georgian Chamber of Commerce: "We can get financial support for any size of ventures"

13.07.2020 (Caucasian Journal) Israel is among the Georgia’s oldest and most reliable business partners. An essential support mechanism for healthy economic relations is a bilateral chamber of commerce, which, as a rule, must be established in both countries. 

Recently such a bilateral chamber has been finally introduced, after a lengthy period of registrations and endorsements in Israel and Georgia. Today Caucasian Journal talks with the head of new Israel-Georgian Chamber of Commerce (IGCC), Mr. Meni BENISH.

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of Caucasian Journal: Dear Mr. Benish, thank you for attention to Caucasian Journal. When I heard about the launch of your Chamber of Commerce (CoC), I thought that we must cover this news, because Israel is such an important country for Georgia, and also because we partner with International Chamber of Commerce and other organizations promoting business participation in civil society. For businesspeople in Georgia, what is going to change with installation of your CoC? What new opportunities will open for an ordinary entrepreneur, and when?

Meni BENISH: First, I would like to thank you for the warm wishes. As you may know, I was born in Poti, and I am a Georgian citizen. Georgian people are close to my heart and I can clearly say that I feel at home in Tbilisi.

A Rainy Night in Georgia

20.06.2020. Aspen Review is a Prague-based journal published by Aspen Institute Central Europe, which is an official partner of Caucasian Journal.  Last year CJ interviewed  Jiří Schneider - Executive Director of Aspen Institute Central Europe (read here), and this year Aspen Review published an article by Alexander Kaffka, editor-in-chief of Caucasian Journal. 

Today we repost Alexander KAFFKA's article "A Rainy Night in Georgia" with permission of our partner Aspen Review. Editor's note: This article was written before the pandemics.

If the ‘Anna Karenina principle’ could be applied to states, it would sound as follows: All the full democracies are alike, but every hybrid democracy is hybrid in its own way.

After 2004’s Rose Revolution led by Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia won the admiration of the international community as it went from the brink of a failed state to an exemplary leader of democracy and successful market reforms. Other post-Soviet nations looked with much excitement at what appeared to be a fantastic achievement in combating corruption at all levels, unthinkable in their own countries. Digitalization of government services brought online convenience to every household, placing Georgia in the world’s top countries in terms of its ease in doing business, and in fact even becoming exportable know-how.

Aspen Ministers Forum: 27 Foreign Ministers Issue Call for UN

June 14, 2020. Caucasian Journal is happy to share and support this Aspen Institute's initiative. We are proud to have two European Aspen Institutes among our official partners. The statement below was released by members of the Aspen Ministers Forum on June 12, 2020. The signatories are acting in a personal capacity, and this statement does not represent an official position taken by the Aspen Ministers Forum or the Aspen Institute.

We are a group of former foreign ministers from every region of the world, who bring to bear decades of experience in conducting international diplomacy, responding to crises, and reforming international institutions. Never before have we seen a challenge as acute, complex, far-reaching, and potentially long-lasting as the COVID-19 pandemic. While many nations have been able to implement effective interventions through social distancing, testing and contact tracing, the first wave of the virus is not yet over and the pandemic continues to pose a risk to the lives and livelihoods of people in every nation on earth.

Photo: Aspen Institute

As with many of the threats we face, the virus does not respect boundaries and therefore cannot be defeated by any country acting alone. To respond to this pandemic and prevent future outbreaks, nations must combine their strengths.

We have seen the benefits that cooperative action can bring. During our careers, world leaders worked to build and strengthen regional and global institutions to spur development, prevent war, promote health, regulate trade, and prosecute crimes against humanity. Although certainly not every decision made was the right one, the mechanisms created helped resolve dangerous conflicts and brought about unprecedented gains in alleviating poverty, expanding literacy, and containing the ravages of communicable diseases.

Ambassador Ran GIDOR: "We’ve been spending too much time toasting each other"

13.06.2020 (Caucasian Journal) Today Caucasian Journal has the honour to talk with the newly appointed Israeli ambassador to Georgia, Mr. Ran GIDOR. His term in Tbilisi started last January. 

Mr. Gidor is not a newcomer in Georgia: Being a career diplomat, he was appointed as deputy ambassador in Tbilisi (accredited to Georgia and Armenia) back in 1997. His subsequent experience included positions of Cultural and Academic attaché in Beijing, Political Counsellor in London, Director of UN Political Affairs Department, and Ambassador to Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Congo and Gabon.

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of Caucasian Journal: Your Excellency, welcome to Caucasian Journal, we thank you for attention to our readers. I know it became commonplace to talk about the coronavirus, but in your case I cannot help asking: How does it feel to start an Ambassador’s term in an unprecedented lockdown? I understand that just weeks after arrival in Tbilisi you found yourself isolated at home and unable to travel, being cut from essential parts of every diplomat’s work.

Ran GIDOR: Thank you, Alexander, for the opportunity to address your readers. Yes, you’re absolutely right, COVID-19 has “turned the tables” (so to speak…) on all our original work plans for 2020 and forced us to cancel virtually every major project in the pipeline. However, now we’re ‘regrouping’ and learning how to implement some new ideas in innovative and unconventional ways. As always, what starts as a threat or a disaster – can be turned into an opportunity, if we’re prepared to rise to the challenge.

Valeri CHEKHERIA: "We are shaping new Georgia and placing it on world map"

05.06.2020 (Caucasian Journal) Is Georgia prepared to welcoming foreign tourists next month? How does the big business coordinate actions with the government in hospitality sector, which is strategic for Georgia? Do corporations play a role in formation of civil society?

Our today's guest is Valeri CHEKHERIA, CEO of Adjara Group. His name is not only behind some of the Georgia's newest and most iconic hotels, but also in many board lists of important non-profit organizations.

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of Caucasian Journal: Dear Valeri, welcome to Caucasian Journal. Last year we planned to talk about your success story of interaction between business and civil society, and the Democracy Frontline Center, and I hope we will touch this today. But now the whole world is turned upside down by the pandemic, which is the top factor everywhere – and especially in tourism-dependent businesses such as yours. How severely your hospitality projects have been hit by COVID measures? 

Valeri CHEKHERIA: The tourism industry was hit the most with hospitality sector experiencing extensive losses globally. Certainly, we are no exception and we have suffered severely from the effects of the pandemic. We had to close down all our hotels and put on hold the development of the ongoing projects. 

Dr. Laurence BROERS: "There won’t be Armenian-Azerbaijani Dayton*" (with video)

27.05.2020 (Caucasian Journal) Caucasian Journal talks with Dr. Laurence BROERS, well-known expert on conflicts in the South Caucasus with over 20 years’ experience, both as a researcher and a practitioner of peacebuilding initiatives in the region. 

Dr.  Broers is the Caucasus programme director at London-based NGO Conciliation Resources. He is Associate Fellow at Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), author or editor of several books, including Armenia and Azerbaijan: Anatomy of a Rivalry, and co-editor-in-chief of Caucasus Survey.

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of Caucasian Journal:  Dear Dr. Broers, welcome to Caucasian Journal. We’ve wanted to talk with you since a long while, and today we have this lucky possibility thanks to an important development – the release of a new documentary about the Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan (to watch video, scroll down to page bottom). You have agreed to introduce this film for our readers. Allow my first question – how do you visualize the target viewers group of the documentary?

Laurence BROERS: On 12 May we released online a documentary film called Parts of a Circle: History of the Karabakh Conflict. The film chronicles the disputed history of more than 30 years of this conflict, in an Armenian-Azerbaijani co-production. It is a locally led project, in which the scripts were written, interviewees selected and films produced by local teams of Armenian and Azerbaijani journalists. The project actually began in 2011 but for a number of reasons it has taken until now to be ready for the public release. The film we have recently released is actually a shorter version, at 76 minutes, of a longer 3-hour trilogy. The short film is in English, and it is intended for an international audience that is not necessarily familiar with the Karabakh conflict. The longer trilogy has considerably more detail and is intended more for a local and a specialist audience.

Caucasian Journal offers free advertising as support for businesses, calls for other mass medias to join

We know that many businesses – both small and big – are impacted by the outbreak of Covid-19. Many companies face a long road ahead as they try to rebuild themselves following the lockdown. In this difficult time, we believe that businesses must show maximum support to each other.

We’ve listened to businesses to understand how we can support them. Caucasian Journal and its sister business news sites decided to give companies struggling in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic free advertising.

Today we are glad to announce that from 22 May all the companies in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan will be eligible to apply free banner advertising to use across the Caucasian Journal and our sister business news sites. 

Professor Ramaz KURASHVILI: "Georgia is lucky to have world-class virologists with independent thinking"

20.05.2020 (Caucasian Journal) Professor Ramaz KURASHVILI is one of Georgia’s leading medical professionals, Director of Center for Diabetes Research in Tbilisi, Chairman of Union of Diabetic and Endocrinological Associations of Georgia, and a member of Caucasian Journal’s Board. 

We have asked Professor Kurashvili to share his views about Georgia’s response to COVID-19.

Caucasian Journal: You have large professional experience, not only medical, but also experience in the management and administration of medical institutions. How do you assess the medical and organizational level of the anti-pandemic activities in Georgia?

Ramaz KURASHVILI: The epidemic is far from over, however, we can evaluate the measures taken by the Georgian government and Georgian epidemiological virologists to date. We can say that the State Coronavirus Commission works highly efficiently: Epidemiologists, virologists, infectious disease specialists, family doctors, healthcare organizers, the police, military, media, television have actively joined in the fight against coronavirus infection; it should be noted that all television channels (in particular, Channel 1 of Georgian Television) and the media work smoothly, there are no cases of dissemination of false or panic information. Of particular note is the high authority, level of knowledge and experience of the Leading infectious diseases specialist prof. T. Tsertsvadze, Director General of the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia prof. A. Gamkrelidze, Deputy Director of the Center prof. P. Imnadze, all the doctors of those centers that today are treating the coronavirus patients. We should thank the leaders and staff of the Ministry of Health of Georgia and the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Mr. D. Zalkaliani. Of particular note is the Prime Minister of Georgia, Mr. G. Gakharia, thanks to his efficiency, openness, and close mutually beneficial cooperation with doctors, it was possible to slow down the growth of the epidemic and to control the situation; time was used effectively to prepare healthcare for a pandemic, to create specialized centers, equip existing clinics and prepare them for patients, purchase and deliver the necessary number of tests, organize quarantine zones two-week quarantine, etc. - i.e. not to meet the blow unprepared.

Ambassador Per EKLUND: "COVID is unpredictable. I had a lucky escape"

12.05.2020 (Caucasian Journal).The Swedish response to COVID-19 is in the focus of the world's attention today. But how does it feel to recover from coronavirus in a Swedish hospital? And when the patient happens to be a former ambassador to Georgia, Caucasus Journal is especially keen about his comments.

Today we are honoured to introduce a very special guest – Ambassador Per EKLUND, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm, former EU Ambassador to Georgia – a person widely known and deeply respected in the South Caucasus. 

He planned to spend this May in Georgia and to meet with us in person, but as COVID interrupted, instead of Tbilisi he had to go to a Stockholm's hospital. Now, after the worst is over, Ambassador Eklund has got a very unique mix of experiences, which he is sharing with our readers.

Alexander KAFFKA, editor-in-chief of CJ: Welcome to Caucasian Journal, Mr. Ambassador, and thank you for finding time for this interview. I am very glad to see you in good health after catching the notorious coronavirus infection. Allow me a somewhat personal question first. Earlier this year you celebrated your 75th birthday. Do you agree that senior citizens should follow stricter isolation rules? Should they be extra careful themselves, or is it a task for the authorities to establish different conditions for people over 60?

Per EKLUND: Well, persons who are 70+ should be careful, as we are, generally speaking, part of the risk group. And I was careful and yet got infected. And although I was in good shape, with no other diseases, no diabetes, no overweight and a non-smoker, I got severely ill. This was my second time in a hospital bed, the first was 1945, at my birth!

AK: Oh, really? And how does it feel to get through a COVID-19, especially in a severe case? Do you have a guess how you got infected?