15HEADLINE NEWS & ANALYSISFINANCIALC M Y K

FINCHANNEL.COM | 20 JULY, 2015 publicitypublicity

A lexander Mc-Queen, Calvin Klein, Lloyd, Doucals, Fabi, Airstep, Ixos, Alessandro Dell Acqua, Ash - This is an incomplete list of the brands, which are avail-able at ATRIO, located on the Chavchavadze Ave. #29.

ATRIO - is a completely new concept, premium class footwear and accessories multi-brand store presented by Dressup Group. Here, you can fi nd classic, as well as casual type of shoes and ac-cessories for women and men.

Atrio, considering premi-um brands presented at the store, has a special, unique design and environment.The interior was created by design studio ROOMS, con-sidering every small detail, to make shopping process very comfortable and enjoy-able. Good example of this is a private dressing room for those who want a cozy, comfortable atmosphere, where they can try on and match desired shoes with their clothes.

Premium Brand Products presented in the store are an

expression of high standard shoe manufacturing, qual-ity, sophisticated design and comfort. Most of them are made in Italy, while others in Western European coun-tries. - said Irakli Mkerval-ishvili, Marketing Director of Dressup Group.

In the near future, custom-ers of ATRIO will be able to view and purchase products via online store, but before this, all the news and infor-mation regarding store and brands will be available on ATRIO-s Facebook page : FB.com/Atrio.ge

ATRIO - a new, premium footwear and accessories multi brand Store in Tbilisi

W e recently hosted a high-level two-day k n o w l e d g e -sharing work-shop in Tbilisi with the sup-port of the International Visegrad Fund. The aim of the event was to establish a platform for dialogue and as-sist Georgian and Moldovan businesses and governments to discuss the potential costs and benefi ts of the EU inte-gration process. PMCG in-vited high-level practitioners and business sector represen-tatives from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic to hear about their experienc-es and perspectiv es in this re-gard. We particularly focused on the Deep and Comprehen-sive Free Trade Agreement - DCFTA - which represents the most challenging part of the Association Agreement for Georgia and Moldova.

The Georgian and Moldo-van governments have agreed to harmonize their legislation with that of the Single Euro-pean Market which requires approximation of various rules and standards. Georgia and Moldova will largely ben-efi t from the DCFTA, although dialogue between public and private sectors is crucial to ensure the effi cient and timely implementation of the agree-ment. SMEs represent one of the most vulnerable groups in this process as they have to adapt to a new environment and have to adopt standards in accordance with those of

the EU. This will be benefi cial from long-term perspective but can be costly if not care-fully analyzed and considered. This challenge spawned the idea to invite recent EU mem-bers, the Visegrad countries, to our event in order to share their best practices, positive and negative negative experi-ences and lessons learnt.

To summarize the results of the workshop, we can say that Georgia and Moldova have to focus on three key areas in order to fully benefi t from the DCFTA:

Delays in the imple-mentation process have to be prevented. Experience shows that some pieces of leg-islation are adopted in a hur-ried manner without proper

consultation and engagement with the private sector which later causes undesired results and negative effects on busi-nesses. Therefore, public and private sectors have to coordi-nate constantly to adopt legis-lation suitable and relevant to the current business climate.

Strengthen knowledge and awareness of EU law approximation process. It is often considered that Geor-gia and/or Moldova have to copy EU member states legis-lation and completely re-write their respective national laws. This is an incorrect under-standing, as in reality, the EU member states have different national legislation in each sector but it is compliant with EU general principles and di-

rectives. Therefore, there is a need to empower public and private sectors capacities in EU approximation processes in order to ensure legal har-monization which will pre-vent any misinterpretation and negatives impacts.

Prevent overregula-tion. While harmonization regulations it is essential to consider local trends and the business climate. Overregu-lating of any sector, without proper analysis of the needs, might harm business devel-opment in the country and moreover bankrupt SMEs that play a crucial role in countries economic and sus-tainable development.

While considering Slova-kias example we can see that

recent liberal economic re-forms in this country resulted in fast development and mod-ernization of industries. For example, currently Slovakia is one of the front runners in the automotive industry. In contrast, the example of Czech Republic showed that a lack of proper public-private dialogue decreased confi dence of busi-nesses and the country could not fully embed free market principles. When it comes to Poland, it has to be mentioned that frequent law changes and excessive regulations have be-come the main obstacles for SMEs in its EU integration process whereas Hungarys experience demonstrated the need to support SMEs to be competitive on a new market.

The following participants shared their views on the event and the broader issue of the path of EU integration for Georgia and Moldova.

We are thankful to the Visegrad Group, which is the most consistent supporter of Georgias European integra-tion course. We highly value their support, especially by sharing the experience in the process of moderniza-tion and Europeanization of Georgia through the Asso-ciation Agreement David Bakradze, State Minister for European and Euro Atlantic Integration,

From our experience we would highly encourage/recommend intensive formal and informal dialog and com-munication between govern-

ment and public in general including dialog with repre-sentatives of employers, em-ployees, NGOs and others Ivan Miklos, former Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Slovakia.

The EU Association Agree-ment offers the opportunity to have a transformative impact on the Georgian economyit is essential that the imple-mentation of this agreement does not have the unintend-ed effect of making it harder to do business in Georgia. Knowledge sharing with other countries provide essential insights about the problems to look out for, and how to proactively engage with the government in order to avoid them George Welton, Pres-ident of Amcham in Georgia.

It was widely acknowl-edged during the workshop that Georgia is a front runner among EaP Countries when it comes to economic and busi-ness enabling reforms. PMCG is actively involved in the EU approximation agenda of EaP countries and is sharing its expertise and successful insti-tutional reforms in the region. Follow-up events will be held in Chisinau, Moldova, on October 21-23, 2015 as well as in Minsk, Belarus on October 24-26.

The workshops are held un-der the International Viseg-rad Fund project Sharing Experience of Public-Private Dialogue in EU Integration Process for Moldova and Georgia, implemented by PMCG.

Supporting Georgia and Moldova Effectively Manage EU Integration Process

T his time its stricken parliament had all but run out of options, and on Wednesday night passed the austerity bill demanded by its eurozone creditors as a fi rst step to re-open negotiations over an 85 billion euro bailout package.

While the bill passed com-fortably through parliament - 229 votes to 64 - it met high-profi le opposition from within Alexis Tsiprass governing Syriza party, and included tight measures such as VAT increases and pension curbs.

Greeces eventual accep-tance of terms - after months of protracted posturing - should start the process of disentanglement of what has been a complex, bitter and presently, violent situation.

But in other ways it ignites more concerns than it quashes. London Business School aca-demics Richard Portes and Mi-chael Jacobides scrutinise the impact of the likely new deal.

HARSHER TERMS, TOUGHER TIMES

Such has been the voracity of its stance that Greece now fi nds itself hamstrung by im-plications far more binding than those its people opposed in the 5 July referendum.

And not only has the agree-ment split the Syriza party - deputy fi nance minister Na-dia Valavani resigned hours before the vote - it has also provoked civil unrest on the streets of Athens.

Richard Portes, Professor of Economics, London Busi-ness School and author of Greece: seeking a way for-ward, wonders if the new deal is sustainable, given that tight deadlines prompted the rapid drafting of legislation, which may need amending in the light of day.

Last night the Prime Min-ister said he didnt believe in the deal but would vote for it all the same. This is not help-ful, he said.

Syriza will break up and rely on support from other parties and an election in Oc-tober is likely. In Greece you used to have two main par-ties. Now it is fragmented.

Of course, its not just the political disagreements within Greece itself that are set to boil over. The day be-fore the deadline, details of the International Monetary Funds (IMF) debt sustain-ability analysis were leaked. They made plain its thinking that large-scale debt relief will be required (potentially over the next 30 years) in order for Greece to re-emerge as any sort of presence.

Such a moratorium on re-payments fl ies in the face of the wishes of eurozone fi nance ministers, not least Angela Merkel who has made clear Germanys stance that a debt haircut would be unac-ceptable.

Professor Portes com-ments: The German ap-proach to Greece has been too draconian. The macro-economic basis of this pro-gramme simply doesnt hold.

It has been implemented else-where in the eurozone and it is misguided.

CIVIL RECRIMINATIONS

It goes without saying that, as with any severe austerity package, consideration has to be given to the damaging ef-fects on the Greek people and the murky prospects of a nation desperately short on resources.

Professor Portes believes this to be a real and immedi-ate threat.

The brain drain isnt a hy-pothetical danger. Its hap-pening and may well acceler-ate, he said. Greece should bring back its diaspora - law-yers, economists in the next few months. It should bring them into the elaboration of this programme.

Greece doesnt currently own this programme. To get ownership it has to do it right. It needs the expertise of its di-aspora.

In his assessment of the latest agreement, Michael Jacobides, Associate Profes-sor of Strategy and Entrepre-neurship, London Business School, points to the fact Greece was ultimately forced to accept the lesser of two damaging situations.

The terms and conditions of this deal, compared to where we were in November, suggest that this must be the most expensive on-the-job training in human history, he argues.

Greece Concedes to Bailout Demands