Innovation Fund Hosts, Provides Training to Georgian Counterparts


29.10.2015

The Innovation Fund hosted a five-member delegation of the Georgian Agency for Innovation and Technology (GITA) during their first study visit to Serbia this month. During a three-day training program, tailor-made for their Georgian colleagues, the Innovation Fund shared their knowledge and experience, gained chiefly through the implementation of the Innovation Serbia Project thought the funds of the European Union in the past four years.

GITA was established in 2014 with a mandate to provide support to innovations in cooperation with the Georgian government and the World Bank. The Bank has also been administering the Innovation Serbia Project.

“I would like to thank the Innovation Fund for the extensive support during the study visit. The knowledge and experience shared has been extremely helpful and we will take it to Georgia to facilitate the innovation framework in our country and build the innovation ecosystem based on best practice. I would like to also highlight the importance of innovation in country’s economic development and the Innovation Fund’s team commitment to it. Well-structured granting program and the enterprise training component are considered as most important tools to be implemented in Georgia based on the Serbian example. Discussion towards Law on Innovation Activity was very insightful and helpful for the legal framework reform in Georgia”, said Avtandil Kasradze, deputy chairman of the Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency.

The three-day program also included visits to institutions of relevance for the innovation sector – including the Ministry of education, science and technology, the European Union Delegation, Business and Technology Incubator of Technical Faculties and Intellectual Property Office.

 „It was а pleasure hosting our colleagues from Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency and sharing our experience with them. After more than four years of working for the Innovation Fund and building our institution from scratch, we are very proud to be able to offer training to a similar institution and share our knowledge on setting up financing programs supporting innovation. Seeing GITA representatives full of energy and enthusiasm reminded me of us in the early days. I wish them a lot of luck in their endeavors, lot of success stories and to make remarkable change in their economy by supporting innovation., says Milena Kostadinović, Innovation Fund operations manager.