On 8 April, Ms Maia Bitadze, Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and Protection of Georgia, and Mr Kwaku Aning, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, signed Georgia's new Country Programme Framework (CPF). ?A Country Programme Framework (CPF) is the frame of reference for the medium-term planning of technical cooperation between a Member State and the IAEA and identifies priority areas where the transfer of nuclear technology and technical cooperation resources will be directed to support national development goals. Covering the period of 2015-2019, Georgia's new Country Programme Framework covers the country's prioritized areas, which include legislative framework, nuclear radiation and safety infrastructure, health care (nuclear medicine and radiotherapy), and waste management and decommissioning. ?

Mr Aning signed the CPF and welcomed the Deputy Minister, who is visiting Vienna as the head of the Georgian delegation to attend a two-day meeting which seeks to 'to strengthen legal framework, regulatory infrastructure and waste management in Georgia.' Ms Maia Bitadze expressed her government's thanks to the IAEA for its visible assistance to the country through the TC programme, and expressed her expectations to deepen the cooperation with the IAEA in the areas stipulated in the newly-signed CPF. In addition to the Deputy Director General and the Deputy Minister, ?the meeting was attended by various Georgian officials, such as the National Liaison Officer (NLO), and IAEA counterparts, including Mr Salema, Director of the Division for Europe, and Mr Zhang, a Section Head in the same division.