Promoting sustainable development of good governance in the Black Sea region

Vienna/Tbilisi, 8 June 2012 – A second international conference on good governance opened in Tbilisi, Georgia, on June 8. The event series organised by the Cultural Policy department of the Austrian Ministry of European and International Affairs was launched in Odessa/Ukraine last year. These events are dedicated to the issues of good governance, the culture of democracy, freedom of the media, political participation, clean administration and the rule of law. In the framework of the conference on "The Culture of Governance", experts, scientists, representatives of the civil society and diplomats from countries of the European Union and the Black Sea region up to Caucasus discussed the progress made in the process of democratisation, current challenges and strategies for faster implementation of the process.

Ambassador Martin Eichtinger, head of the Cultural Policy department in the Foreign Ministry, who opened the conference at the State University in Tbilisi, said: "Transparency and openness in political and economic action are essential prerequisites not only for a favourable climate for investment, but also for an effective development of open, modern and stable democracies and their civil societies. The Black Sea region is one of the principal key regions of the future and a focus area of Austria’s cultural work abroad. Promoting long-term, sustainable development of good governance in this area is of central concern for the Austrian international cultural policy."

The meeting was organised by the Cultural Policy department of the Austrian Foreign Ministry and the Vienna Institute for Parliamentarism and Democracy Questions and supported by the International Department of the Municipality of Vienna. Local partners in the organisation of the conference are the State University of Tbilisi, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI). Participating organizations include the EU, OSCE, UNDP, EUBAM and the Europe House Georgia.

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