On 19-20 May 2008, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Netherlands Mr Wouter Bos visited Georgia. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen bilateral ties in the framework of the Netherlands Constituency at the WB / IMF.   The programme of the visit included meetings with Georgian Minister of Finance, Mr Gilauri and his staff, Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze, the First Lady of Georgia and representatives of the International Community, National Bank of Georgia as well as CEOs of Georgian Banks.

On 20 May, both Ministers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministries of Finance of Georgia and the Netherlands. This MoU is valid for three years and aims to facilitate on-going and future cooperation between the two institutions on all issues within areas of responsibility of the two ministries. At present, particular cooperation exists in the area of financial investigation between the Investigation Department of the Georgian Revenu Services and the NL counterpart institution FIOD-ECE.

On 20 May, a Round Table discussion took place at the National Bank of Georgia on the developments of the financial sector in Georgia. This discussion was organised by FMO, the Netherlands Development Finance Company. Present at this meeting were the National Bank of Georgia, EBRD and CEO’s of Georgian banks.

For more information see  www.fmo.nl.