Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe assessed the steps towards decentralization as positive

Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe assessed the steps towards decentralization as positive

New steps made in the local self-government reform and its decentralization were the topics of discussion at the meeting between the management of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia and Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Mr. Andreas Kiefer.
Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, Mrs. Maya Tskitishvili updated Mr. Kiefer on the ongoing and accomplished reforms towards enhancement of local self-government and its decentralization. She also highlighted that within the reform, it is important to develop basic infrastructure to achieve economic strengthening of mountainous regions and eradicate disparities existing among regions. The parties also talked about strengthening of the role of local self-government and capacity building of local self-government employees and the need of delivering training courses, which, on its part, represent the basis for creating strong self-government as an institution and is highly important for successful decentralization. 
The parties also talked about the need of increased involvement of citizens in local self-government. It was highlighted that significant reforms that served to increase the quality of democracy were carried out during the latest years.
Deputy Minister, Mrs. Mzia Giorgobiani and representatives from the Ministry and the Congress also attended the meeting.
Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Mr. Kiefer assessed the steps made towards strengthening local self-government and decentralization as positive. These reforms were also positively reflected in the CoE Monitoring Mission Report.
The parties underlined that the Congress closely cooperates with local and central government which promotes successful implementation of joint reforms.