Irakli Kobakhidze, Prime Minister of Georgia met Luis Benveniste, World Bank Global Director for Education and Rolande Pryce, World Bank Regional Director for the South Caucasus.

The Head of Government of Georgia presented the concept of the higher education reform developed by the Government of Georgia (GOG) to the World Bank (WBG) representatives.

Irakli Kobakhidze highlighted the key challenges existing in the education system, which have defined the main objectives of the reform - the geographic deconcentration of the system, optimization of resources and qualitative improvement of university infrastructure and the quality of education. The significance of the World Bank support in the successful implementation of higher education reform was duly underlined.

The discussion also touched on cooperation with the World Bank in the economic field. It was noted that the World Bank"s current portfolio in Georgia includes 8 active investment projects with a total value exceeding 975 million USD.

The meeting was also attended by Rita Almeida, World Bank Education Global Practice Manager for Europe and Central Asia; Ana Berdzenadze, Education Specialist at the World Bank and from the Georgian side - Givi Mikanadze, Minister of Education, Science and Youth; Lasha Khutsishvili, Minister of Finance; and Levan Zhorzholiani, Head of Government Administration.