Subject: EXPORT DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCEMENT
From: Export Development Association <[email-masked]>
To: Ani Kvaratskhelia <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 10:05:10 +0000

Export
Development Association
is thrilled to announce the appointment of Ms. Ani
Kvaratskhelia as a Head of The Board and four new supervisory and
advisory board members Mr. Nika Kurdiani, Mr. Datuna Rakviashvili, Mr.
Mamuka Beriashvili. Other board members include Ms. Gvantsa Meladze, Mr.
Giorgi Abashishvili, Mr. Zurab Gambashidze. The
new Board members bring a wealth of experience in the following areas: private
sector development, policy development, strategy and innovation, market analysis,
business development, start-ups/scale-ups, government relations, communications
and marketing etc.

Ani Kvaratskhelia’s
career counts a decade of experience in private,
public, non-governmental and international organizations. She was actively working with Georgian and international
companies, with IFIs and local banks as well as with donor
organizations/embassies. As a Deputy CEO of Anaklia City (the largest
infrastructure project in Georgia), she managed multiple domains including:
business development, client relations, stakeholder relations, spatial
development, urban planning, strategic planning and operations. She is a
subject matter expert in planning and executing economic development projects
in collaboration with the public, private and international organizations, to
stimulate private sector development in the country. Throughout her
professional journey, she has been actively involved in supporting
entrepreneurship, agriculture aid, FDI attraction and export promotion. I have
a proven track record of identifying private sector development constraints
(both on the demand and supply sides, with thorough knowledge of regulatory and
trade regime constraints and institutional development aspects) and creating
ecosystems with managed risks and expectations. During the last few years, she
co-authored strategic papers in each field of expertise that she specialized
in. As a result of development of several researches, intensive roadshows and
study programs, she was co-author of the strategy which led to establishment of
LEPL Entrepreneurship Development Agency (Enterprise Georgia) – the first
Georgian government institution with a direct mandate to support business
sector development. Comprehensive set of programs has been developed to
stimulate investments, increase of export, and expansion of service industry.
Her career is complemented by dual MBA degree in Finance and Entrepreneurship
from the University of Missouri Kansas City (USA).

Mr. Nika Kurdiani -Deputy CEO, TBC Bank, has more than
fifteen years of experience in the banking industry which includes five years
at UniCredit Group in Austria, Turkey and Kazakhstan. Immediately before
joining TBC Bank in 2014, Nika was managing director at Kaspi Bank, a leading
retail bank in Kazakhstan. Prior to obtaining his MBA degree in 2007, he served
as head of the retail banking division of Bank Republic Georgia, Société
Générale Group, and also held several positions at Bank of Georgia between 2003
and 2006. He has expertise in post-acquisition integration and restructuring,
as well as retail and SME banking. Currently at TBC Nika is overlooking MSME
Banking, Payments Business, Marketing and PR, CSR, TBC Bank’s subsidiary in
Azerbaijan, TBC Pay, UFC, TBC Leasing, and the NeoBank Space. Nika obtained his
MBA degree from IE Business School in 2007. He also holds an MSc degree in
International Economics from the Georgian Technical University, Stanford GSB
LEAD Certificate in Corporate Innovation and completed BBA studies at Ruhr
University Bochum in Germany and the Caucasus School of Business.

Mr. Datuna
Rakviashvili was a Chairman of the Board of the National Resilience Center,
Initiated by President Margvelashvili, NRC aims to help national governments
and the international community counter hybrid threats through strengthening
resilience and improving resistance capabilities. Rakviashvili was a Deputy
State Minister at the State Ministry for Reintegration of Georgia from 2008 to
2011. He served as a Deputy Chief of Mission at Embassy of Georgia in US
(2011-2013). He served as a Secretary of National Security Council of Georgia
and President Margvelashvili’s National Security Advisor in 2016-2018. Since
early 90th, before joining public service in 2008, Rakviashvili was actively
engaged in developing business, social and educational platforms. He co-created
and managed several successful startup business enterprises in hospitality
industry & communications management, as well as several professional
association and educational institutions.

Mamuka Beriashvili is founder of company
Nutex/Nutsge and is in Business for more than 20 years. The company is one of
the largest exporter of nuts from Georgia to EU.

Gvantsa Meladze’s career counts 20 years of experience in state, private and
international organization in economic development projects with emphasis on
privatization, agriculture, Foreign Direct Investment and export promotion. In
latest years Gvantsa managed Export Support Service of National Investment
Agency and worked on entrepreneurship support policy reform in Ministry of
Economy and Sustainable Development. After 2013 Gvantsa joined Export
Development Association as a chair of the board (until 2019) and as its member.
She acquired MBA degree from Grenoble Business School and is now pursuing her
science degree in Public Policy in University of Edinburgh.

Mr.
Giorgi Abashishvili is a Georgian National Consultant at the
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs from January 2019.
Last five years he was Economic Advisor and Head of Administration of the
President of Georgia. He was a Member of the Dual Education Coordinating
Board – Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Member of the Financial
Education Strategy Management Committee – National Bank of Georgia; Member of
NATO – Georgia Professional Development Program Management Board (PDP) and
Member of the Representative Board of Ilia State University. He has master’s
degree of Economic Policy and the Bachelor’s Academic Degree in International
Business.

Zurab
Ghambashidze – has 20 years of experience in trade and sales direction in
leading companies in Georgia. His subject matter knowledge in export direction
is vast. He is involved in education of different groups in export and
marketing direction.

The
scope of ambition for the EDA includes working with the private sector, explore
innovations and the future of the industries on multiple platforms; facilitate
local content production and value addition, seek out markets and distribution
avenues for that content and attract a range of projects that Georgia can
afford. The Board of Directors provides EDA with governance to steer the
organization’s operations and ensure stakeholder responsibility.

About EDA:

Export Development
Association (EDA) was established in 2012, with the
mission to support Georgian enterprises in growing and diversifying their
exports through advocacy, trainings and business development services. We
are a member-driven association uniting up to 100 export-oriented producers
and service providers.

Within the field of services, our focus
lies on the rural Tourism Industry, wherein we leverage a vast
network of experts and years of experience in both donor and
government-funded initiatives to deliver a comprehensive and
high-quality advisory package and implementation support services to guest
house operators:

•
Assessment of business challenges and
capacity development needs

•
Advisory on product development and
sales: from conceptualization of offerings to positioning and market entry,
sales aftercare

•
Facilitating cross-actor
collaboration in the tourism sector: DMOs, Catering providers, tour
operators

•
Trainings in business planning,
finance and accounting, marketing and sales, management, tailored to the
specifics of the industry and rural guest house business

•
Customized market research and surveys

•
Business model sustainability,
aftercare

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Best Regards

EDA TEAM

M: +995 558 697811   P: +995 032 2147498   W: www.eda.org.ge     A: Shrosha str. 8/10,  Tbilisi, Georgia. 0179

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