On April 30, the closing event of the joint project of the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia – “Sakpatenti” and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was held. The “Project on Collective Management, Branding and Commercialization of Selected Registered GI in Georgia” was a one-year project and was aimed to support the farmers, associations and entrepreneurs who produce unique Georgian products marked with geographical indications and appellations of origin.
Within the project, the registered geographical indication “Tushetian Guda” was selected, on the example of which targeted training sessions, various meetings and discussions were delivered for producers aimed at strengthening their capabilities and developing marketing skills. In the process of working on the project, attention was focused on the product management aspects, branding and commercialization issues. In particular, the entrepreneurs were informed about elaboration and improvement of production methods, the forms of product promotion and the necessary approaches for the advertising campaign, which will in future facilitate increasing the product sales and, accordingly, receiving of better income.
The summarizing event of the project, which took place at Tbilisi Marriott Hotel, was opened by a welcoming address of Mr. Soso Giorgadze, Chairman of Sakpatenti. Cheese producers, representatives of WIPO and other invited guests were addressed by Mr. Gela Samkharauli, Chair of the Agrarian Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, and Mr. Apollon Kakabadze, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia. Ms. Alexandra Bhattacharya, Project Manager, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, addressed the participants of the event remotely.
At the event, Ms. Yaning Zhang, advisor of the project team, Regional and National Development Sector, and international expert Mr. Pascal Bernardoni summarized the results of the project and spoke about its importance. In his speech, Mr. Paata Abulidze, producer of Tushetian Guda, paid attention to the entrepreneurial prospects and export opportunities of the project.
During the event, a panel discussion was held, where the project implementation process was discussed. Strengthening of the “Tushetian Guda” Association in the direction of collective management and deepening of knowledge to improve competitiveness was noted, attention was focused to the compliance of quality requirements defined by specifications and the link between the area of production, as well as various enforcement mechanisms. Sharing the experience of international practice within the project will contribute to the development of the Tushetian Guda production and access not only to national, but also to regional and international markets.
Along with this, a video about the goals and objectives of the project prepared within the project was presented at the event. Also, a presentation of the journal of the appellations of origin and geographical indications of Georgia registered at Sakpatenti was organized. Interesting information and informative and visual material of cognitive character published in the journal convey and demonstrate the importance of 64 special products registered at Sakpatenti, emphasize their uniqueness, role and benefit in the development of the country. The authors of the texts of the journal – historian Mr. Giorgi Kalandia and journalist Ms. Marika Bakuradze, as well as the authors of the journal’s visual material - photographers Mr. Badri Vadachkoria and Mr. Paata Vardanashvili attended the presentation.
At the reception, chef Mr. Luka Todua offered a master class and prepared a dish using Tushetian Guda cheese. In addition, the producers set up stalls for tasting Tushetian Guda. An information stand about Tushetian Guda was also presented at the event.
Together with representatives from WIPO, the closing event of the project was attended by representatives of the Government of Georgia and state agencies, including the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, the National Food Agency and the National Tourism Administration of Georgia. From the private sector, representatives of the Farmers Association, the Georgian Dairy Association, the Georgian Cheese Producers Association, “Elkana”, “oriGIn Georgia”, the Association of Sommeliers and “National Geographic Georgia” participated in the event.
The results of the project revealed that effective industrial use of products of geographical indications and appellations of origin is the best way for the development of the intellectual property field, which, in its turn, has a positive impact on the economy of the country.