CLDP, in collaboration with the Export Control and Related Border Security Program and the Political and Economic Section of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, will convene a coordination meeting to discuss the development and implementation of a national mechanism to review foreign direct investment (FDI) in Georgia. FDI-screening is an important tool in countering problematic investments that pose risks to economic stability or national security.  Georgia does not have an investment screening mechanism in place to consider national security interests relating to potential foreign direct investment, despite the government’s focus on the country becoming a trade, transport, and logistics hub.  

 On February 7, CLDP, will release a pre-recorded webinar on project agreements for a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). 

CLDP, in cooperation with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), will lead a virtual consultation on the collective management framework in Georgia.  The program will be attended by representatives of the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia ‘Sakpatenti’ and other government stakeholders on issues involving intellectual property rights.  During the program, experts from the USPTO and international collective management organizations will review the mechanisms and leverages that lead to effective and transparent collective management.  CLDP will also moderate a discussion on the current state of collective management in Georgia that will assist Sakpatenti and other government stakeholders to identify gaps in the legal and institutional framework and develop a roadmap for strengthening current legislation to remove ambiguity and/or implementing new institutional mechanisms that reinforce the legal obligations of CMOs.   

CLDP in partnership with the IPR Center, the IP Task Force, USTR, and USPTO will hold Central Asia Regional Expert Level Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights Webinar on the Interagency Coordination for the Protection and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights on January 27th, 2021. The Webinar will be a part of a series of virtual and hybrid meetings/workshops that will take place in 2021, culminating in a U.S. based Consultative Visit of the Central Asia Regional Expert Level Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights to take place after COVID-19 travel restrictions are lifted.