Millennium Challenge Corporation visits Georgia
A delegation from the Millenium Challenge Corporation is in Georgia to visit Georgian government officials, NGOs, and civil society leaders to discuss Georgia's proposals for participation in the Millenium Challenge program. The delegation, headed by CEO Paul Applegarth, explained that Georgia was one of the 16 countries out of 74 applicants selected in "recognition of the steps being taken by the new government". Applicants were judged on whether the government created conditions of economic freedom, invested in its people, and had "good governance".
He also explained that the Millennium Challenge Corporation is a business created by the U.S. government and that it has a budget of $1 billion to fund programs proposed by the governments of these 16 countries. CEO Applegarth pointed out that this assistance differs from previous programs in that the local government, in consultation with others, must decide how it wants to spend the money, saying, "MCC is different from most other government aid programs. It is really built on the thought that the government gets to choose, that the country gets to choose what the priorities are and how do we implement it, and we provide assistance to make that happen."
While here, the Millennium Challenge Corporation will visit current U.S. government assistance projects, meet with Georgian government officials and NGO leaders, and visit the BTC pipeline.
For more information about the Millennium Challenge Corporation, please visit www.mcc.gov.
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