Executive-level students from 11 countries meet with alumni
Current participants of the Advanced Programme in Law and Economics will meet with alumni from Georgia, Moldova and Latvia at a special event organized by the Riga Graduate School of Law (RGSL) on Monday, 9 November. The Advanced Programme of Law and Economics, an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a three-month, non-degree program initially designed for mid-level officials from the countries of the EU’s European Neighborhood Policy andCentral Asia. Most of the participants hold government-related positions.
The aim of the Programme is to familiarize participants with issues related to EU integration, the complexities of negotiating free-trade and accession treaties,the principles of international law, good governance & the rule of law, as well as with best practices in government budgeting and financial management. More generally, intensive in-class training supported by working visits will introduce them to European standards and values. The Programme is being implemented by RGSL in cooperation with its consortium partners: University of Latvia, Stockholm School of Economics-Riga, Latvian Institute of International Affairs and European Institute of Public Administration.
Latvia - a model for many countries outside EU
Latvia is the perfect venue for this Programme as it allows its government officials to share with them - both in and outside of the classroom – their own country’s experience since regaining independence, that is from its transition towards a rules-based democracy and market economy to its eventual accession to the EU and joining the Eurozone, amongst others.As such, Latvia stands out as a model for the countries represented in the Programme aspiring to a similar path in the future. Latvia’s recent Presidency of the Council of the European Union adds additional authority and credibility to any information offered by Latvian sources on EU-related matters.
The current group consists of 39 participants with 20 coming from the Eastern Neighborhood Area, sponsored by Latvia, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland and 19 coming from Central Asia, sponsored by USA. They come from Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Moldova and from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, respectively.
Executive program, a successful initiative of the Ministry of Foreign of the Republic of Latvia
Current participants may expect alumni to sing the praises of the Programme. The alumni will claim that the Programme “literally opened their eyes” to a number of international and EU-related issues and point out to the new intake that their three-month training allowed them upon their return to integrate the acquired knowledge in their daily work to the benefit of their countries and also for some leading to personal career advancement. Both alumni will no doubt also acknowledge the enormous value - both professionally and personally - of the friendships formed and contacts made during their three months at RGSL - an enduring feature of the Programme that the current participants have yet to discover.
Influence of the Advanced Programme on the participants
In the upcoming week, the participants of the ongoing session will have the chance to meet Salome Ugrekhelidze from Georgia who is a legal advisor at the EU Law Department at the Ministry of Justice of Georgia and Denis Cenusa from Moldova who is an affiliated expert at the Think tank "Expert-Group”; both being graduates of the first Advanced Programme session willing to discuss their career developments since the Programme.