Date: March-May 2020
Donor: USAID Economic Security Program
Partner: TBC Bank
Beneficiaries: MSMEs operating in Georgian market
Impact:
1,400 registered applicants
711 MSME representatives trained
7 international speakers
12 local e-commerce experts sharing experience
“E-Commerce Goes Viral in Georgia” was an emergency project of the Association launched against the backdrop of the lockdown that was introduced to contain the spread of the virus. The project aimed to address a critical need of MSMEs to sustain operations during the pandemic.
To enable and empower MSMEs, businesses, entrepreneurs, service providers and individuals to design and operate e-commerce businesses in the short-term; and
In the long-term, to enable them to utilize lessons learned to develop a sustainable growth strategy that includes e-commerce.
A series of five capacity building webinars were held to provide best practices on the entire cycle of e-commerce business. More specifically, five capacity building webinars guided the MSMEs throughout the process of selling products and services online, designing marketing products and services, choosing technological platforms for on-line sales and the logistical supply chain management for e-commerce.
In the course of the project, 711 MSME representatives were trained, out of which 35 MSMEs applied to the membership of the Association. In addition and as a part of the project, a policy paper was initiated and communicated jointly by some of the participating MSMEs and the Association. The paper outlined the challenges to e-commerce businesses in Georgia and provided recommendations to the Government in terms of creating an enabling environment for e-commerce.