"What we are trying to achieve, is to establish solid institutions of local government able to develop and implement good policies and development funds for Kosovo”, said Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Slobodan Petrovic. 7 April 2011, Prishtina
Slobodan Petrovic: Local development processes, regional development, cross-border cooperation, are not luxury but necessity for Kosovo as well as for any other country in order to benefit from its own potentials
In order to better coordinate the needs of the Ministry and municipalities for support from international projects operating in Kosovo, Ministry of Local Government Administration organized a meeting with representatives of the projects supporting MLGA. Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo and Minister of Local Government Administration, Mr. Slobodan Petrovic, said that MLGA leads very important processes for Kosovo and such processes, such as decentralization and local government development, are among the main priorities of MLGA.
"A relatively small country as Kosovo, needs all those initiatives, decentralization reforms, regional development policies, inter-municipal cooperation, cross-border cooperation, and other projects”, said Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Slobodan Petrovic
Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Slobodan Petrovic said that Kosovo needs different local development policies to handle different challenges in different communities throughout municipalities and regions.
"We face a lot of diversity in development in the territory of Kosovo. We have different ethnic cultures, each with its own history and heritage, and regions rich of natural resources and some with promising industry, thus diversity is a good side” said Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Slobodan Petrovic.
Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Slobodan Petrovic said that experiences from other developed countries or those countries undergoing the transition process have proven that economic and social development of a country may not be developed in long-term if not based on solid institutions and clear policies.
"What we are trying to achieve, is to establish solid institutions of local government able to develop and implement good policies and development funds for Kosovo”, said Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Slobodan Petrovic.
Expressing his gratitude to representatives of the projects for their help provided to MLGA in local government development, Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Slobodan Petrovic said that processes that local government in Kosovo is undergoing are not luxury but necessity of each country aiming for sustainable development.
"Local government processes, decentralization, regional development, cross-border cooperation, are not luxury for Kosovo but necessity for each country to benefit from its own potentials”, said Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Slobodan Petrovic.
General Secretary of the MLGA, Mr. Besnik Osmani, said that it is important that investment projects dedicated to municipalities work and implement programs in line with municipal and development priorities and to advance the local government in Kosovo.
Meeting was attended by project heads Mr. Vincent Rouwmaat, Kosovo Cooperation Project, Mr. Marko Rillo, EU Projects supporting Regional Economical Development, Mr. Krenar Loshi, UNDP and Support to Decentralization in Kosovo Project, Mrs. Ginka Kapitanova, Democratic Effective Municipalities Initiative (DEMI) and other project heads supporting MLGA and municipalities. Project heads presented data on development plans for local government in Kosovo through support projects dedicated to MLGA and Kosovo Municipalities.