USAID/Georgia Mission Director Peter Wiebler and BP Georgia Country Head Aytan Hajieva signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) affirming USAID/Georgia and BP Georgia’s commitment to strengthening community resilience across Georgia.
Under the MoU, USAID will partner with BP to advance economic growth in rural communities. USAID/Georgia and BP Georgia also committed to exploring opportunities to jointly address climate change and promote regional cooperation.
The MoU reflects USAID’s strategy to expand and deepen engagement with the private sector to advance sustainable development in Georgia. The Agency’s growing list of private sector partnerships are focused on helping Georgia strengthen resilience against malign influence, build citizen-responsive institutions, and achieve inclusive economic growth.
“This partnership with BP Georgia strengthens USAID’s ability to support resilience in Georgia’s rural communities, which is one of the top priorities of the development strategy we launched in 2020,” Wiebler noted at the signing ceremony. “BP and USAID have collaborated for years to support resilience and inclusive economic growth in Georgian communities, including vulnerable communities near Georgia’s Administrative Boundary Lines. We look forward to creating and co-financing new initiatives that benefit more people across Georgia.”
Aytan Hajieva noted that “improving people’s lives is one of the core values of BP’s sustainability strategy. It advances our purpose of reimagining energy for people and for the planet. We intend to combine our efforts with USAID, sharing experience and resources to advance sustainable development in the communities where we work. This collaboration will help Georgia’s communities to build greater resilience, and it will lead to more sustainable livelihoods for Georgian workers and families.”
The MOU builds on an existing successful partnership between USAID/Georgia and BP Georgia. Between 2018 and 2020, USAID, through the USAID Zrda Activity in Georgia, partnered with BP Georgia to implement joint development projects in 41 villages adjacent to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) pipelines in Shida Kartli, Samtskhe-Javakheti, and Kvemo Kartli.
USAID/Georgia and BP Georgia co-financed $685,000 in initiatives to provide local residents with grants, training, and technical assistance to support the growth of micro-, small-, and medium sized enterprises.
About bp Georgia: BP, on behalf of its partners, has been working on major oil and gas projects for 25 years in Georgia. Baku-Supsa and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipelines as well as South Caucasus gas pipeline and expansion project in Georgia contribute to the energy security of the country. It is one of the biggest investors in the country and has invested more than $4 bln in energy infrastructure, including $100 million spent and committed in sustainable development projects. Together with its oil and gas partners, donors and business partners, it supports local communities and wider society with access to energy and energy efficiency, business start-up and agriculture, education and Paralympic sports. BP and its oil and gas partners initiated the Community Development Initiative in 2003, and over the 18 years since, has invested $27 million in local community development.
