Regional ministerial conference on public administration reform challenges in Western Balkan countries

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This high‑level conference, held on 4 December 2015 at the OECD in Paris, examined the reform efforts of countries based on SIGMA’s 2015 baseline measurement reports, one year on from the launch of the .

Addressing common reform challenges and country responses to these challenges, the focus of the event was thematic discussions on priority reforms, such as fiscal consolidation, re-organisation of the public administration and the professionalisation of the senior civil service.

The event was attended by ministers responsible for public administration, ministers of finance and senior officials from Western Balkan countries and Turkey. There were interventions from Mari Kiviniemi, Deputy Secretary General of the OECD, ministers from the region, Simon Mordue, Director for Strategy and Turkey at the EC, Rolf Alter, Director of the OECD’s Territorial Development and Governance Directorate, and Karen Hill, Head of the SIGMA Programme.

Programme I List of participants

Opening remarks by Mari Kiviniemi, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD

Speech by Simon Mordue, Director for Strategy and Turkey, European Commission

Speech by Avdullah Hoti, Minister of Finance of Kosovo*

Speech by Marta Tomovska, Minister of Information Society and Administration of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Speech by Ambassador Rauf Engin Soysal, Undersecretary of the Ministry for EU Affairs of Turkey

Speech by Jadranka Vojinović, State Secretary for Public Administration Reform of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro

Speech by Milovan Filimonovic, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of Serbia

Concluding remarks

Presentation by Dragan Ćuzulan, Co-ordinator for public administration reform, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Presentation by Edwin Lau, Head of Reform of the Public Sector Division, OECD/GOV

Presentation by Karen Hill, Head of the SIGMA Programme

Presentation by Keit Kasemets, Deputy Head of the SIGMA Programme

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*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.