$1.2 for capacity building in Serbian Ministry of Finance

Belgrade, Feb 20, 2004 - Serbian Minster of Finance and Economy Bozidar Djelic and UNDP Resident Representative in Serbia-Montenegro Francis O'Donnell signed an agreement on a one-year project on capacity building for human resources management in the Ministry of Finance and Economy, worth a total of $1.2 million.

The main goal of the project, according to Djelic, is to improve the efficiency, transparency, and accountability of the public administration. He added that the project will also strengthen the ministry's capacities.

O'Donnell said that the project is based on a previous capacity building project and recalled that the previous aid was necessary in order to meet the needs of the government, which had taken over the responsibility to lead the country after years of crisis.

O'Donnell also said that the project will provide experts in strategic areas such as public enterprise restructuring, European integration, treasury, accountancy, local economic development, and financial market.

Also attending the signing ceremony was Barend van der Hayden, the Ambassador of the Netherlands, which is the sponsor of project.