First graduates of Business Management School receive funding for business plans

Monday, June 4, 2007
These students of non-economic faculties have completed more than 140 hours of intensive business management, marketing, accounting, economics, credits, logistics and other business-related courses at the Business Management School started by World Vision Abkhazia program in Abkhaz State University.

"These courses were quite intensive for students, as they had to stay additional hours after their regular University classes," – says Oksana Lasuria, Abkhazia Program Officer. "Only these 40 active and strongly motivated students, selected from 150 applicants were able to graduate from this first cycle of business courses successfully."

Graduates have come up with business ideas and plans that were later evaluated by representatives of World Vision, University professors and donors of the BMSA project. Business plans aimed at contributing to the economic development of Abkhazia, a conflict-affected breakaway region of Georgia by increasing managerial capacity of future entrepreneurs, local NGOs and district administrations in Abkhazia.

these 40 active and strongly motivated students, selected from 150 applicants were able to graduate from this first cycle of business courses successfully

"There are a lot of people in Abkhazia who are running bee farming businesses," – says Irakli Janashia, one of the graduates of the school and a grant-winner, planning to invest this amount into his existing bee farm. "I\'ve been dreaming already for a long time to set up a kind of a Center that would unite all bee farmers of Abkhazia. We would definitely benefit from sharing our experiences and methodologies and thus improving the honey production industry in Abkhazia".

The second round of business courses in Business Management School will be finished in early June, and two other grants will be awarded to more successful students to implement their business plans.

The Business and Management Skills for Abkhazia project is funded by the European Commission and WV Austria, and is implemented in partnership with Abkhaz State University.