Country-Specific Workshop on Road Asset Management for Georgia
On September 12, the CAREC Institute, in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), launched another four-day country-specific Road Asset Management (RAM) workshop for Georgia. The country-specific workshop is held in a hybrid format, bringing together – face-to-face and virtually – leading national senior officials and experts in the road sector. The multi-session workshop was developed based on the CAREC Institute’s RAM maturity assessment of the CAREC countries, conducted in 2021. The purpose of the workshop is to conduct a country review of the RAM implementation and further develop participants’ skills in road asset data collection, management, and maintenance.
Mr. Zaigham Naqvi, Senior Transport Specialist in the Central and West Asia Department of the Asian Development Bank, assigned to Armenia and Georgia, in his welcoming speech emphasized the importance of efficient and sustainable management of road infrastructure assets – built for public purposes. Over the past decade, CAREC countries invested considerably in building transport infrastructure and optimizing the service life of such assets. The CAREC Transport Strategy 2030 places great emphasis on introducing effective and efficient road management practices in the region, improving regional connectivity and sustainable development. Mr. Naqvi emphasized the role of the CAREC Institute as a knowledge broker for the CAREC Program in providing research and capacity building support to member countries to improve road asset management systems.
Mr. David Getsadze, Deputy Chairman of the Roads Department of Georgia, welcomed the workshop participants and expressed his gratitude to the CAREC Program and the CAREC Institute for organizing the RAM workshop for Georgian specialists. There are over 24,000 kilometers of roads in Georgia, of which 1,500 are international routes and 5,300 are secondary roads. In addition to existing transport infrastructure, Georgia is planning to build new roads and tunnels to strengthen regional connectivity. To fulfill this plan, the country needs to improve road assets and road asset management system.
Dr. Iskandar Abdullaev, Deputy Director Two of the CAREC Institute, in his keynote speech, emphasized the importance of the CAREC corridors not only as transport corridors, but also as economic, knowledge, and environmental corridors. The CAREC Institute conducts various studies of regional economic trends and issues and shares its findings in the form of research reports, working papers, economic and policy briefs, policy dialogues, workshops, and conferences. The CAREC Institute maintains ongoing two-way communication with national governments and other stakeholders, contributing research results to national policies. The CAREC Institute promotes knowledge sharing among CAREC countries to jointly address regional challenges and jointly benefit from sustainable economic development in the region. Research areas of the CAREC Institute are aligned with the five CAREC clusters, including such regional studies as Corridor Performance Measurement and Monitoring, CAREC Regional Integration Index analysis, digitalization, energy connectivity, water management, trade, human development, and others. For joint action on climate change, the CAREC Institute conducts research and capacity building activities to help CAREC countries develop climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies that promote sustainable development and improve the quality of life in the region.
During the four days of the workshop, participants will learn about various measures to address RAM greenhouse gas emissions from road traffic and how to prepare a country-specific greenhouse gas reduction plan. The workshop will help create groups of national asset managers in each CAREC country, and ultimately throughout the CAREC region, who can support each other in RAM and promote collaboration in the form of a committed community of practice.