IFC Trains Georgian Businesswomen to Increase Efficiency of Their Corporate Performance

In Tbilisi: 
Tamar Barbakadze 
Phone: +995 32 92 3523 
E-mail: TBarbakadze@ifc.org 

In Moscow: 
Nezhdana Bukova 
Phone: +7 495 411 7555 
E-mail: NBukova@ifc.org 




Tbilisi, Georgia, October 23, 2009—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is 
training women at senior positions in Georgia to improve knowledge of corporate 
governance issues and enable women to contribute to further development of 
efficient decision-making, transparency, and accountability in companies.

The initiative, designed to create new opportunities for businesswomen in 
Georgia, is a part of IFC’s global strategy to support women’s participation in 
business as an important component of its mission to stimulate sustainable 
economic growth.  IFC hosted a workshop for women executives and board members 
to improve awareness on the role of women in corporate performance.  It brought 
together representatives of private sector, the government, and academia to 
discuss the latest gender-related trends in the country and identify areas for 
improvement.

Maia Tevzadze, Project Manager for IFC’s Georgia Corporate Governance Project, 
said, “We believe that improved knowledge of corporate governance issues will 
help eliminate often-hidden gender-based barriers for businesswomen, contribute 
to increasing number of women at senior positions, and result in better 
governance and transparency in companies, thus stimulating development.” 

Workshop participants discussed the role of gender as a corporate performance 
driver, IFC’s gender activities, and trends in Europe and Central Asia. 
 Rusudan Kervalishvili, the Deputy Chairman of the Georgian Parliament, who 
chairs the Consultative Council on Gender Equality Issues under the Chairman of 
the Parliament, introduced the government’s latest gender initiatives. 

Gender equality is part of the agenda of the two IFC advisory projects in 
Georgia.  These are the IFC Georgia Corporate Governance Project, which works 
to improve the corporate governance practices of Georgian companies and banks, 
and the IFC Georgia Investment Climate Project, which aims to improve the 
investment climate in Georgia by reducing administrative barriers to running 
and operating businesses.

IFC’s donor partners for these projects are BP and its co-venturers  in oil and 
gas projects, and the Canadian International Development Agency.

About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape 
poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in 
developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing 
private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to 
businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $14.5 billion in fiscal 
2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial 
crisis. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

For more information about BP, visit www.bp.com.
For more information about CIDA, visit www.cida-acdi.gc.ca.