The 1st quarter of Year 2018 was marked with a series of public events in Georgia, Moldova, and Armenia, launching into action the EU-funded pioneer projects, which were conceived under the “Mayors for Economic Growth” Initiative. The pioneer projects in Belarus and Ukraine will follow suit after having gone through the national procedures of approval and registration. More information about the events can be found here:

• http://www.m4eg.eu/en/news/pioneer-project-launch-in-armenia/
• http://www.m4eg.eu/en/news/pioneer-project-launch-ceremony-in-bolnisi/
• http://www.m4eg.eu/en/news/the-eu-delegation-to-georgia-launches-three-new-grants-to-support-georgian-municipalities-in-promoting-local-economic-growth-and-development/
• http://m4eg.eu/en/news/launch-of-the-pioneer-project-in-gori-municipality/

On 2nd March 2018, the EU initiative “Mayors for Economic Growth” and the Imereti Regional Administration conducted a meeting of the Mayors of Imereti Municipalities with the participation of the Governor of Imereti Region. The event took place in Kutaisi, Georgia. Eight out of the twelve municipalities in Imereti are members of the “Mayors for Economic Growth” Initiative. Together with the local business and civil society, the local administrations work on increasing the output of the local economy and job-creation.

The first groups of Signatories from all the participating countries, who embarked on the four-module training programmeon Local Economic Development planning in November last year, are approaching the finishing line in the process of preparing their plans.

This debate is ongoing and relevant as ever. Check out a short video from the Local Economic Development Forum, held in September 2017 in Tbilisi, Georgia, where expert opinions on the topic are featured. There you will also find the underlying principles and assumptions under which the M4EG Initiative operates, as well as the approaches to local governance and managing local economic development, which M4EG works to promote.