Business Advocacy for Peace

This study is the third part of a series analysing economic relations across the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict divide, which appraises the potential of mutual economic interest as a basis for conflict transformation. The conceptual question at the centre of this research is whether economic incentives can facilitate conflict transformation by cementing mutual interest and interdependence, and whether a provisional legal framework, which would make economic activities across the conflict divide regulated and transparent (and, therefore, risk-free), would create a new impetus for peace talks.

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From 19th to 22nd of July 2012, International Alert and Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN) organised a cross-learning trip of South Caucasian beekeepers to Kars, Turkey. The trip was part of CBDN’s ongoing work in this sector, which aims to promote and strengthen regional cooperation among beekeepers in the South Caucasus.

From Alert's 2011 Annual Report

International Alert has published a new Economy and Conflict study on the Georgian-Abkhaz context. Prospects for the regulation of trans-Ingur/i economic relations: Stakeholder analysis analyses the views among business communities, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), on the issue of regulating economic relations across the river Ingur/i which largely follows the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict divide.

On 16th October, International Alert’s partner Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN) organised the annual Caucasus Tea Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia. The aim of the Festival is to promote sectoral cooperation and popularise the Caucasus Tea brand across the region.

Between 29th June and 1st July 2011, International Alert’s Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN) partners organised a Food Expo in Kars, Turkey with the aim of promoting Turkish-Armenian and South Caucasian business relations as well as regional economic cooperation and dialogue.

Between 4th-6th February 2011, International Alert’s economy and conflict project partners, the Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN), organised a regional beekeepers’ meeting to discuss challenges and possibilities for regional cooperation in the beekeeping sector.

The Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN), a project co-founded and supported by International Alert, recently visited London and Brussels to promote its work on economic approaches to peacebuilding and to publicise the initial results of its recent research. Between 17th and 25th March Alert’s partners gathered in London for a strategic planning meeting that was followed by seminars conducted by CBDN at King’s College in London and at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels.

Between 10-12 June 2010, Alert’s Economy & Conflict partners from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey as well as Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia, the Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN), gathered in Brussels for a strategic planning meeting to discuss their work promoting regional and cross-divide economic cooperation initiatives in the South Caucasus.

Between 17th-20th July 2010, International Alert’s Economy & Conflict project partners, the Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN), organised the Second Caucasian Cheese Exhibition in Tbilisi, Georgia. The exhibition brought together Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian and Turkish producers, experts and officials to promote dairy sector cooperation in the region. 

Together with its Caucasus Business and Development Network (CBDN) partners from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia as well as South Ossetia, International Alert participated in the 20th Economic Forum in Krynica, Poland between 8th-11th September 2010. It was the fourth time CBDN participated and chaired a panel in the event, often dubbed as the “Davos of Central and Eastern Europe”. This year, CBDN was among the Forum’s official institutional partners.