[Happy TV] Invitation to cities for the Champions League of Local Development
"Support to cities and municipalities" was the topic addressed by the guests of the morning program, Milan Antonijević, advisor for program development at NALED, and Saša Pavlović, mayor of Požarevac. The BFC program, which has been implemented for more than 10 years, has included more than 100 cities and municipalities from the entire region, and currently 45 local governments have a certificate that represents the quality seal of their business environment.
- Cities approach this process in order to show how they harmonize their business policies with regard to the economy, how open they are to small and medium-sized enterprises, to domestic and foreign investments, to improve some processes and thereby be as competitive as possible in Serbia and the region - he explains Antonijević.
The city of Požarevac is one of the 45 local governments that successfully went through the BFC program process and thus received the BFC certificate. Besides Požarevac, there are Čačak, Ruma, Ćuprija, Šabac, Stara Pazova, Leskovac, Novi Sad, Paraćin, Bor and Pećinci.
- Through the BFC certification, you go through a series of criteria that are also elimination. If you don't pass, you can't get a certificate, and the BFC certification is primarily important to introduce us to some rules, because by introducing those rules and respecting them, you become more transparent towards the economy and citizens. Having a certificate allows you to have good communication with the economy and businessmen the next day - says Pavlović.
The certification process lasts 12 months and begins with the training of the local government team, which is in charge of meeting the set criteria. The evaluation process follows, in which the current situation in the city or municipality is assessed, after which a report is submitted to the management with specific recommendations for improvement that must be implemented in the given period. At the end of the process, an independent verification committee assesses whether the local government meets the requirements to obtain the BFC SEE certificate.
To participate in the program, interested cities and municipalities can submit an application through the website www.bfc-see.org. or to turn to NALED, as the competent Technical Secretariat for the implementation of the BFC SEE program in Serbia. In the following period, an info session "How to reach the standards of the international BFC SEE certification" will be organized. On this occasion, all interested participants, representatives of cities and municipalities will be able to get additional information about the details and conditions of participation in the BFC SEE program.
The partnership for a competitive region (CORE partnership) brings together more than 20 institutions and organizations from Southeast Europe. Implementation of the BFC SEE program is supported by the GIZ Open Regional Fund for the Modernization of Municipal Services (GIZ ORF MMS).
You can watch the recording of the guest appearance at the link.
