Levan Zhorzholiani, Head of Government Administration participated in a panel discussion of the World Governments Summit about Zeroing In On Government Bureaucracy: Successful National Approaches.

During the discussion, the Head of Government Administration spoke about Georgia’s successful experience in ensuring simplified access to public services and highlighted the country’s leading positions in various international rankings.

“Georgia is indeed one of the biggest and most ambitious countries in terms of public service delivery. It makes the lives of ordinary citizens and business entities simpler. Transparency is the core principle, as you mentioned, for our government. For example, my.gov.ge is a platform that unites all the platforms of all the public agencies at the national and sub-national level, and where individuals can navigate through without going there physically. Also, public service halls are the unique spaces where one can get over 500 government services - starting from birth certificates and registration of any deal, any contract; [all the way to] personal identification cards, passports, etc. So, everything is [readily available] within one space. We are covering all 64 municipalities of Georgia and we are working on a daily basis to improve this. Also, [let me say] what is the main benefit of all these: it attracts Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), which is crucial for Georgia. For example, we have one of the simplest taxation systems in the country. Also, VAT Refunds are automated. It is a huge plus for business entities. We are one of the most open economies after Estonia or Singapore, according to international indexes. Also, we have the lowest level of corruption, which is crucial in terms of eliminating the bureaucracy and unnecessary paperwork from our daily life. We are doing better than all EU Candidate Countries and several Member States. We are working to be in the Top 3, It is our main goal and priority”, - said Levan Zhorzholiani.

During the panel discussion, he also spoke about the plans set by the Government of Georgia for the development of digital technologies and specific projects in this direction.

“One of my colleagues from an EU country once said that every time we are trying to eliminate bureaucracy, we are creating some commissions and getting more bureaucracy. I believe that a balance between unnecessary paperwork and essential work that needs to be done in order to get the results is necessary. From 2016 we even started to use the Blockchain technology to promote efficiency and eliminate bureaucracy. We are going to invest a lot in AI, AgroTech and bacteriophages in the coming years. In the third largest city of Georgia - Kutaisi - we also established a New Tech Hub, which will also work on the new AI models that will help the public and private sectors as well as academia. We think that this is our future, That is how we see our future. I think that it creates a vivid picture for everyone - not only citizens and business entities that operate in Georgia, but foreigners who come to learn, study and/or invest in Georgia. Our main goal is to make their lives easier”, - added Levan Zhorzholiani.

The panel discussion was moderated by American journalist and former CNN anchor, Prof. John K. Defterios. Participants included representatives from the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).