Newsletter No. 08 April 05, 2016

Coalition Building in ArmeniaThe Second Coalition Building Meeting took place on 25 March, 2016, in Yerevan, Armenia. The meeting was attended by the representatives of twelve different Business Support Organisations, as well as the Key Expert on Policy Christian Gessl.

The meeting was held in an open and constructive atmosphere, with discussions on a wide range of issues of mutual interest and concern, and allowed for an exchange of views on issues, such as what should the membership categories be, who could and how to become new members of the Coalition, what would be the best and the most suitable name for the newly structured Coalition, what would be its mission and vision, etc. The meeting lasted for almost 4 hours, resulting in agreements reached on the following:

• The name of the Coalition - "Business Advocacy Alliance"

• Business Support Organisations (BSOs), Business Membership Organisations (BMOs) and several "know-how" institutions could further become new members, after voting. However, before this procedure, any new member should be recommended to the Alliance by an already existing one, provided the incumbent complies with the already set criteria.

• Mr. Carl Ulbricht will draft the Memorandum of the Alliance.

After the discussion of these topics, some time was dedicated to analyzing several problems faced by the Armenian B&B Association. A questionnaire was further prepared to be sent out to all the Organisations and Associations with the view to finding out the main problems they face and assisting them in their settlement.Contact: Christian Gessl - c.gessl@ueapme.com

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NEWSLETTER

EVENT CALENDAR !

Seminar and Round Tables on Membership in BSOs Active in AdvocacyKishinev, Moldova18-22.04.2016 Contact: Alexandrina Robu - alexandrina.robu@ppd-network.org Seminar and Round Tables on Communication in BSOs Active in Advocacy and OECD SME Policy SeminarBaku, Azerbaijan25-29.04.2016 Contact: Narmin Isparzade - azerbaijan@ppd-network.org!Seminar and Round Tables on Membership in BSOs Active in Advocacy Minsk, Belarus24-27.05.2016 Contact: Natalia Harbuz -natalia.harbuz@ppd-network.org

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This Newsletter is compiled in the framework of the PPD Activities of the East Invest 2 Programme.

This Programme is financed by the EU.

Newsletter No. 08 April 05, 2016

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People of the Week

Maya Eristavi Maya Eristavi is the Advocacy and Capacity Building Component Leader at the USAID Project Governing for Growth (G4G) in Georgia.Governing for Growth in Georgia (G4G) is a five-year multimillion dollar USAID project designed to support the Georgian government to create a better enabling environment in which legal and regulatory reforms are fairly and transparently conceived, implemented and enforced through consultative dialogue. Maya joined the project in 2015 with the responsibility of developing business associations, gender empowerment and youth integration in order to effectively involve them in the country’s economic policy development and advocacy for reforms. Under Maya’s direction, establishment of Economic Policy Advocacy

Coalition (EPAC) occurred on 15 September 2015, in which business associations, chambers of commerce, and think tanks signed a memorandum of cooperation with the mission of promoting a business enabling environment through a constructive dialogue between the public and private sectors.Before joining the project, Maya was representing the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Georgia) as a Deputy Executive Director. Maya has 15 years of experience in local and international organisations including: Amcham, DLA Piper, and TBC Bank.Contact: Marya Eristavi - meristavi@g4g.ge

Anastasia BaklanAnastasia Baklan is working on providing a public private dialogue and implementation of advocacy campaigns in Ukraine and Eastern Partnership Countries within international programs of Center for International Private Enterprise, USAID and Euro Commission. She is a communication expert of the Ukrainian National SME Platform, a head of PR programs in Corporate Governance Professional Association, a founder & CEO of "Business Gathering" company. Anastasia also training business support organizations on coalition building, issues tracking, databases and monitoring, talking with media, creating press-releases and video production, optimizing the use of social media for advocacy. In prior roles Anastasia worked as a program officer in the Innovative Business Center, where she organized a business forums, conferences and exhibitions in the sphere of alternative energy in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan. Before it she worked as a press secretary in the Public Council under the State Service on Regulatory Policy and Entepreneurship Development of Ukraine. Anastasia finished masters in Journalism of the Kyiv National University of Tarasa Shevchenko and CIPE program on improvement the institutional capacity of business associations. Contact : Anastasia Baklan – nastya.baklan@gmail.com

Gocha NikolaishviliGocha is from Tbilisi the capital city of Georgia (Southern Caucasus).His experience accounts for over 7 years of full time and part time in Banking, Investment, Education Management, Consulting, Government and nonprofit management sectors. He has been actively involved in entrepreneurial, volunteer, pro bono and freelance functions. For the moment Gocha is Founder, CEO at Precursory Society of CFA Institute in Georgia, nonprofit organization “Georgian Society of Investment Professionals”, he is also a Partner, Regional Representative in Southern Caucasus (Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia) at Faster Capital – Arabic venture capital and private equity management company; He represents also another venture accelerator company Seedstars World S.A. in Georgia under the brand name – Seedstarstbilisi*

which brings startups from 70+ countries together through special competition for the purpose of simplifying and increasing an access to financing.Gocha’s passion it to serve as Management / Business / Investment Consultant and to help organizations and people develop and expand. Gocha is also serving as volunteer for different and various kinds of roles, bringing international brands to the country to exchange international knowledge and experience with the purpose to help mother country – Georgia, to develop through raising frozen economic, investment and related points which are very crucial for country development. Contact: Gocha Nikolaishvili – gocha.nikolaishvili@gsip.ge

Newsletter No. 08 April 05, 2016

Total Operation management for Safety Critical ActivitiesOver the recent past the accumulation of major mishaps, crises and accidents have made it clear that organizations must still improve their capabilities to address safety "not a stand-alone activity that is separate from the main activities and processes of the organization" but as an integrated part of critical project management. Further it is critical also to understand how weaknesses not only in the technical but also in the organizational interfaces can contribute to significant losses and major industrial accidents.

TOSCA (Total Operation Management for Safety Critical Activities) is concerned with the integration of industrial operations into a total performance management system so that concerns about safety, quality and productivity are addressed in an integrated way during life-cycle of a project or a product. The industrial domain of application regards process control industries (e.g., chemical industries, power generation, offshore oil & gas platforms, etc.) that may vary in size, regulatory and cultural aspects. TOSCA will examine vulnerabilities of the technical, human and organizational systems that may have an impact in safety, quality and productivity. Safety critical activities can be seen as ‘projects' or ‘safety cases' that must be examined from the perspectives of many stakeholders (e.g., different departments, subcontractors, regulatory authorities, etc) and decision-making at different organizational levels (e.g., top managers, supervisors and operators). A participative approach is required that should collect knowledge from the sharp-end operators and integrate it with formal descriptions of how the system works and how responses should be coordinated across the whole organisation. Furthermore, TOSCA should enhance the management of changes and provide a facility for testing out the effectiveness of the possible action plan devised.To learn more, please, visit URL: http://www.toscaproject.eu/Contact: Lorenzo Accardo - l.accardo@ueapme.com

!Armenian Young Women's Association"Armenian Young Women's Association" (AYWA) was founded in 2004.AYWA is a non-profit, non-governmental organization comprised of young people united in their determination to improve the status of women in Armenia, regardless of political affiliation, educational/cultural background, ethnic origin or religious outlook. AYWA's missions to lead social change and to achieve equality of opportunity and reward for all Armenian women, is an integral element in transforming into a just and productive society for all.The overall goal of organization is to strengthen the role of young women in all aspects of Armenian society.The activity of “Armenian Young Women’s Association” is particularly directed to young women, and concentrates on their problems both in Yerevan and in the regions of the Republic of Armenia. Realizing appropriate and joint strategy to solve current problems, AYWA manifests professional approach organizing educational courses, consultations, discussions and different types of events, involving larger audience. In some projects, AYWA gathers both women and men, thus raising the public awareness on Women issues and building healthy atmosphere between genders. AYWA works with young women between ages from 13 to 40. According to the Strategic Plan for 2008-2012 the approach for women (girls) from 13-18 and 18-40 ages is different. To find out more about AYWA, their partners and activities, please, visit URL: aywa.amContact: Lilit Asatryan - lilit.asatryan@aywa.am

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Newsletter No. 08 April 05, 2016

SMEs Need More Supportive Conditions for Jobs and Growth

In March 2016 in Brussels, the European Social Partners met with the European Council and Commission, as well as with the Troika of Head of States at the Tripartite Social Summit, to discuss the refugee crisis, digitalisation and an improved involvement of Social Partners in European Governance. Ulrike Rabmer-Koller, President of UEAPME, focused her intervention at the meeting on how the EU policy can help strengthen the economic recovery and support SMEs. So much depends on the business environment, the ability to finance SMEs’ investment plans and the availability of skilled workforce. The refugee crisis needs a European solution, one that can also keep Schengen alive. Refugees can contribute to the upswing if they are integrated in the labour market and can start companies. Finally, a stronger involvement of Social Partners in the European Semester process, especially at national level, can contribute to better implement necessary reforms, that is if they have the capacity and resources to actively participate. Therefore, capacity building, especially for SME associations in some Member States, is a precondition to strengthening the social dialogue at national level.URL: ueapme.comContact: info@ueapme.com

Effective Communication Skills and AdvocacyOn March 29 – 30, USAID G4G organized a two-day Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop on “Effective Communication Skills and Advocacy.” The workshop was delivered by Ms. Camelia Bulat, Senior Advocacy and Coalition Building Expert from the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE). The workshop was attended by representatives from EPAC and other organisations. Through modelling of the best practices and latest techniques in training delivery, the trainees were introduced to new approaches, learned training design concepts and how to overcome distractions. The participants acquired planning, preparation, and written presentation skills as well as the skills to assist in advocating for democrat ic reforms through effect ive communication with the government and civil society. Contact: Marya Eristavi - meristavi@g4g.ge

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PUBLIC PRIVATE DIALOGUE Newsletter Compiled by: Yeva ZeynalyanMobile: +374 99 07 00 32E-mail: newsletter@ppd-network.org

This Newsletter is compiled in the framework of the PPD Activities of the East Invest 2 Programme.