Batumi hosts the Forum ‘Future-Fit Cities’

More than 200 participants from Eastern Partnership cities convened in Batumi, Georgia, for a two-day urban forum organized by the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) of the European Commission, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and partners.

The forum - titled "Future-Fit Cities” - focused on how to tackle complex municipal issues by building green, inclusive and resilient cities, capable of leveraging public-private finances to boost growth and innovation.

Tornke Rijvadze, the Chairman of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara addressed the audience and noted that with the support of the European Union and the United Nations Development Program, the city has great benefits in terms of development.

‘We appreciate our country's unwavering support for the Euro-Atlantic path, and I am confident that all tasks critical to the long-term, peaceful, and stable development of our people and state will be completed. This forum was organised by the United Nations Development Programme. I'd like to remember and pay tribute to Nick Beresford, who was a great supporter and partner, and I greatly appreciate the work he did, and I'd like to express my condolences to both his family and his colleagues once more and confirm our respect,’ - Tornike Rijvadze said during his speech.

The forum also aims at bringing together relevant stakeholders and promote discussion on socio-economic sustainability and the use of different sources of financing in cooperation with international donors, financial institutions and the private sector based on the EU economic and investment plan in the region. The Mayors for Economic Growth (M4EG) Facility, a joint initiative of the EU & UNDP, is an invitation to reimagine urban and local spaces for positive transformative change and future-readiness. The network has more than 400 local government representatives in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.