\nPlease see the interview with Khatia Bukhrashvili \u2013 Secretary General, ICC Georgia<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
First of all, please tell us about your success story, what stages did you go through, what difficulties did you face and what stage are you at now?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I would like to thank you very much for your interest. Before success, I think I still have a lot of work to do and many challenges to overcome, to exhaust all possibilities, since success is not permanent, it is a long process, which is even more difficult to maintain.<\/p>\n
I graduated from Tbilisi State University majoring in foreign languages, but soon I realized that this profession was not enough to achieve my goals and I needed more theoretical knowledge in various fields along with practice. After graduating from the university, I studied business management at GIPA, a little later I won a grant announced by the Dutch embassy and continued my studies in financial management at the Maastricht School of Management in Holland, and in 2017 I obtained the NEBOSH IGC degree in the Occupational Health and Safety \u00a0Management.<\/p>\n
I have been working since I was 18, almost continuously; I gained a lot of experience in the banking sector, worked in various directions in private, state and international organizations. I worked for several years in the direction of labor safety in one of the international organizations. In this direction, I still conduct trainings for private companies and for training centers.<\/p>\n
Of course, there were difficulties, there is no way to success and achieve the goal without difficulties. However, it is very important who your mentor is; how much does the team and management care about improving your results and how big your aspiration of self-development is to becoming a professional.<\/p>\n
I was lucky that in the field that I became interested in and chose as a second profession in recent years, I mean occupational safety, I had a brilliant teacher, my boss, who made me fall in love with this profession. He believed in me and I probably turned out to be a good student.<\/p>\n
Currently, my success is related to ICC Georgia.<\/p>\n
What was the biggest challenge on your career path, an obstacle that seemed insurmountable at first, but you were able to overcome it anyway?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Most of the challenges were related to knowledge, skills, which in turn bring confidence. There is no insurmountable obstacle. Overcoming challenges requires knowledge and experience. There will always be challenges if you don’t stop striving for new things, and the accumulated knowledge and experience help you to overcome them and make it easier for you to overcome them. The world changes every day, approaches change, visions change, and we also change methods – and this is a pleasant challenge.<\/p>\n
What is your main motivation to keep moving forward?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I was a child of the dark 90s, I don’t remember exactly when, but it was firmly imprinted in my head from childhood that I should always move forward and at the same time not forget the swamp where we inadvertently found ourselves in. Developing self and others, every new project that brings positive changes for people and business – this is my greatest motivation.<\/p>\n
Tell us about your current activities at ICC Georgia. You are the Executive Director of the International Chamber of Commerce in Georgia, and please, share your experience in this regard.<\/strong><\/p>\n
The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest business organization in the world, which unites 46 million member organizations and 12,000 chambers of commerce. ICC is involved in policy development and facilitation of international business and facilitates imports and exports worldwide. Locally, we support business development through the introduction of international standards, professional development opportunities, and access to an international network for companies. In the organization, we pay great attention to the development of young people’s skills and their professional growth as well.<\/p>\n
Tell us a little bit about the future plans of ICC Georgia, are you planning any international or local projects in the new year 2023?<\/strong><\/p>\n
This year we have many projects planned together with our international partners, which I think will be extraordinary opportunities for the companies and professionals involved.<\/p>\n
I would also like to mention here, the most important projects that will be implemented with the help of our international partners, and which I can truly consider the greatest success, is the three-year memorandum signed with UNICEF, within the framework of which we will be able to jointly create opportunities and promote the development of the skills of young people in order to better prepare them for an independent life. Within the framework of the same memorandum, it is planned to raise awareness about positive parenthood for the member companies of our organization and their employees. The second and also very important project is the women economic empowerment throughout the country. I care about these projects like my own child and I am sure that in the long run they will really bring positive changes and change the lives of many people for the better.<\/p>\n
Finally, limiting ourselves to the traditional question, what would you advise aspiring professionals and young people who are now taking their first career steps?<\/strong><\/p>\n
I want to tell them that there is no unachievable point. There is less experience, less knowledge and less work. The main thing is to believe in their own abilities. Do not be afraid of difficulties, every difficulty overcome is their victory, there is little in life that can compare to the enjoyment of this victory. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, the most important thing is to understand those mistakes and move forward to success, to success that will bring positive changes. I want them to know that they can bring changes, good changes! However, this cannot be achieved without knowledge and development! Which is a difficult, tiring and at the same time a very sweet process, without that all actions are in vain.<\/p>\n<\/div>
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