On May 08, 2018, Association of Business Consulting Organizations of Georgia (ABCO) organized and facilitated the first in the series of regional DCFTA Local Advisory Councils (LAC) meetings, which was held in Telavi – the regional center of the Kakheti region. The event took place at the venue provided by the Mayor’s Office of Telavi and located in the building of the Mayor’s office and local governance body Sakrebulo. Participants of the event represented target groups of local stakeholders - CSOs, SMEs/farmers as well as local public administration officials - representatives of the Mayor’s offices, economic and other relevant departments and State agencies at the municipal level including local offices of the Information-Consultation Centers (ICCs) of the Ministry of Environment Agriculture of Georgia. Total number of 16 LAC members attended the meeting, among them 8 representing CSOs, 4 persons - Business/SME sector and 4 participants represented the local administration / public sector. The participants of the LAC representing the Kakheti region identified following two sub-sectors as the most prospective from the point of view of export and local development: viticulture/viniculture and cattle-breeding. The participants have managed to discuss and suggest recommendations within these two sub-sectors, that will be tabled at the meeting of the DCFTA Central Advisory Council in Tbilisi.
