The FINANCIAL — The University of Piraeus through the Hellenic Aid programme of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs is conducting trainings for Georgian trainers. This programme will cover three different areas in the banking industry – International Financial Reporting Standards, Human Resources Management and Consumer Banking.
“Actually we have big traditions of partnership. Just don’t ask us to return the Golden Fleece, we’ll give other things in exchange instead,” Mr. George Chatzimihelakis, the Ambassador of Greece in Georgia said.
The University of Piraeus, in partnership with the Association of Banks of Georgia through its training arm the Georgian Banking Training Centre presented a new project “Training of Trainers for the Banks of Georgia”.
GBTC, the first banking training centre in Georgia was officially launched on October 4, 2007.
GBTC was set up by the Association of Banks of Georgia and Caucasus University with the financial support of the USAID-supported Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Support Project. Programmes offered by GBTC in cooperation with the Hellenic Bank Association and Hellenic Banking Institute are aimed at addressing the needs of the Georgian banking sector.
The mission of GBTC is to provide financial services professionals with continuous and effective education and training. The GBTC will promote the highest standards of performance in the financial services industry by validating individuals’ knowledge and expertise to foster their self-confidence and personal growth. Also to develop a strategy that will allow the creation of a sustainable financial training centre devoted to increasing the knowledge of the financial sector in Georgia that will support the development of modern and efficient financial institutions (FIs) and allow them to compete in the international market place.
The new programme was funded through the Hellenic Aid Programme of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“In spite of efforts we won’t be able to organize a project without the support of Greece’s Banks Association. It is connected with a huge financial amount. The programme of training includes topics which are prioritized by the banking sector for the additional training of their staff. The project is being funded by the Government of Greece and a huge role was played by our Greek colleagues, bank association and its General Secretary Mr. Gorcoss,” Zurab Gvasalia, President of the Association of Banks of Georgia, told The FINANCIAL.
One of the special guests at the event was Mr. George Chatzimihelakis, the Ambassador of Greece in Georgia.
“This is not only a training programme. This is a project which will encourage reinforcing links between Greece and Georgia. Actually we had big traditions of partnership. Just don’t ask us to return the Golden Fleece, we’ll give other things in exchange instead,” Chatzimihelakis says.
The University of Piraeus is a university in Piraeus, Greece. Originally founded in 1938 by the Industrialists and Tradesmen Association under the name “School for Industrial Studies”, the university has evolved from its original focus on business management. In 1966, it became a public university, and in 1989 it received its current name.
“It may sound a bit ironic that during such a difficult time as the world financial crisis we are working with the Georgian banking sector to raise their staff’s qualifications. But it’s true and that’s not only my opinion, that taking courses to extend knowledge is important at any time. Yesterday we had a meeting where we arranged some technical details of our implemented project. We are glad to hear that this project will be spread to other local universities. We hope this project will be successful. Success in this way means that people will get what they expect to get. To use correctly all the skills they will collect,” Joseph Hassid, Professor, Project Director, told The FINANCIAL.
“The project will start on January 1. It will last one year. The first goal is the re-training of trainers, who will share their collected skills with others. After finishing trainings Greek specialists will choose ten of the best ones who will continue a course in Greece to show them how it works. The material side is being wholly funded by Greece. For us the most important thing is developing this project. I want to thank the Government of Greece and representatives, as despite the war situation everything is continuing as normal in terms of negotiation and the planned regime for the project,” Gvasalia stated.
According to Levan Gogoladze, Coordinator of the Project and Director of GBTC, “This programme will cover three different areas in the banking industry – International Financial Reporting Standards, Human Resources Management and Consumer Banking. These topics were selected according to the needs of the banking community. The University of Piraeus is providing all training materials and courses will be delivered by internationally experienced experts. GBTC will select candidates for these courses, so that in the future the training centre will be able to deliver them on its own basis. GBTC will also utilize experienced banking sector professionals and university professors as trainers.”
At the presentation Professor Joseph Hassid offered to change the slogan of GBTC – Bankers Grow Stronger Here, to this – Bankers Help People Grow Stronger.
Written By Madona Gasanova
