Tbilisi, 28 April, 2010. The World Bank has completed a three day workshop on Governance in the World Bank financed projects, which has been jointly organized by the World Bank Transport Sector Team and the Integrity Vice Presidency. The Workshop has provided an opportunity to deepen the collaboration between the Bank, the Government and the participating agencies in improving governance in the projects implemented with its financial support.
The objective of the workshop was to raise awareness on the role of governance in improving aid and development effectiveness, and share with the participants - government counterparts, Road Department representatives, Project Implementation Units (PIUs) and the Bank staff involved - in the transport sector good practices and international experience in the areas of procurement, contract management and fraud and corruption prevention. It has been equally important to assess the existing risks, constraints and opportunities of governance challenges in the country and review the lessons learned from the previous transport projects and facilitate peer learning, team building and knowledge exchange across teams for better supervision.
“The Transport Sector in all countries is vulnerable to fraud and collusion and this requires the right resources to address these risks. This workshop is a joint effort between the Government and the Bank to improve Governance and make donors aid more effective for the benefit of the Georgian people. In particular, the workshop will provide fraud and corruption awareness training to enhance the capacity of the agencies to detect illicit behavior early on and to improve project performance due to better contract management”, said Olivier le Ber, World Bank Lead Transport Specialist.
“The improvement in transport infrastructure, the building of highways in compliance with international standards and the rehabilitation of Georgia’s roads, is one of the top priorities for the Georgian government. In addition to this, sharing of international experience is equally important for applying international standards in service provision and in improving skills. Over the past few years, important anti-corruption activities have been implemented by the government of Georgia, the transparency of procurement and tender procedures have increased, the transport infrastructure connection has improved and liberal approaches have become systematic for raising transport corridor competitiveness,” said Lasha Gotsiridze, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure.
The workshop consisted of three parts: Governance and Efficiency Gains; Project Risks and Management and Training of Roads contractors, and Supervision Consultants and NGO on Procedures and Sanctions.
The participants of the Workshop were Senior Government Officials, Road Department representatives PIU staff from the Transport Sector Transport Sector TTL (Task Team Leaders), Contractors and NGOs, and the Bank staff involved.
