Georgia Hosts the Seventh Regional Leaders Summit

June 2-3, 2014 marked the seventh regional leaders summit in Atlanta, which focused on the Regional Leaders Summit partners sharing valuable information and advice about ways to leverage economic growth and overcome challenges of changing landscapes.
The Regional Leaders Summit (RLS) takes place every two years with Georgia being selected to host 2014. This year's summit was two-day event comprised of bi-lateral meetings and a final declaration signing, all of which revolved around the themes: 'leveraging major sporting events for economic development" and "global shifts in logistical supply chains.'

The Summit took place at the Omni Hotel, June 2-3, 2014 which included a delegation dinner held at the Governor's mansion. And on Tuesday, June 3, the head of delegates (HOD's) met for the summit to go over key issues and to sign the declaration discussing the 2014 outcomes and projects for the next two years.

'Leveraging Major Sporting Events for Economic Development,' was chosen because each partner of the RLS has hosted a major sporting event such as the Olympics for example, which allowed each partner to share his or her experience of how each sporting event was used to stimulate economic and job growth beyond the scope of the event.

'Global Shifts in Logistical Supply Chain,' was selected because supply chains and logistics are a major part of any economy, and since each partner of the RLS has experienced challenges as well as successes in this area, each member was asked to share advice on how to succeed and any failures they may have faced.

The Regional Leaders Summit is a seven member alliance that was founded in 2002 to promote exchanges and to improve competitiveness within specific regions. The RLS is comprised of the following regions: Bavaria, Germany; Georgia, USA; Quebec, Canada; São Paulo (state), Brazil; Shandong, China; Upper Austria, Austria; And the Western Cape, South Africa. Georgia became the seventh member of the RLS in 2002.