CLDP continued its partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (MFA) to develop its economic diplomacy curricula for MFA’s newly established Diplomatic Training Center (DTC) during a four-day workshop in Tbilisi, Georgia May 29-June1, 2012. DTC was established in January 2012 to enhance the professional capacities of Georgia’s Diplomatic Corps by providing regular trainings and specialized courses on select topics of special importance.

The first phase of the program took place through U.S. Consultations in April 2012 in Washington, DC for 10 officials from MFA, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the Prime Minister’s Office. This second phase brought together Georgian diplomats from the key market countries of India, People’s Republic of China, Republic of South Africa, United Mexican States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Arabic Republic of Egypt, Romania, Austria, Turkey, Sweden, and Czech Republic as well as the participants from the Aprill consultations.

The training provided participants with in-depth and comprehensive training on WTO trade law, WTO agreements, WTO trade remedies and dispute resolution, negotiating free trade agreements, dispute resolution in international contracts, structuring international business partnerships, commercial attaché tradecraft, developing a market entry checklist, and export promotion.

Upon completion of the workshop, participants achieved a deeper understanding of how to manage international trade and commercial diplomacy issues and will be able to conduct trainings under the auspices of MFA’s Diplomatic Training Center for Georgia’s current and future Diplomatic Corps. A third phase of the program will take place in the fall 2012 with a training for the entire Georgian ambassadorial corps by a USG Commercial Service Officer on commercial diplomacy. This multi-phase project will provide meaningful and need-oriented training that will hone the participants’ practical skills and enable them, as Georgia’s counselors specialized in commercial issues, to foster and promote Georgia’s commercial interests abroad.