Minister of State Administration and Local Self-Government Jelena Žarić Kovačević met with NALED's Executive Director Violeta Jovanović to discuss future directions and priorities for their joint efforts in public administration reform. The focus areas include regulatory reform, digitalization and e-government development, coordination of inspection oversight reform, and local economic development.
The participants noted that there are key touchpoints and shared ambitions between MDULS and NALED, and they committed to continuing their successful collaboration and dedicated work towards achieving their common goals and priorities. They also agreed to establish new forms of partnership to reduce administrative burdens on the business sector, ensure continuous and secure local development, further modernize public administration, and advance the second phase of inspection oversight reform.
NALED representatives updated Žarić Kovačević on the results and contributions NALED has made to the overall reforms, highlighting their confidence that future major tasks will be successfully completed. The Minister expressed her commitment to implementing important projects, including the local e-government development index and certification of local self-governments with favorable business environments. She also indicated her willingness to engage in intersectoral issues requiring collaboration with other bodies.
One of the topics discussed was the e-Government Development Program, including its action plan for implementation from 2023 to 2025, as well as the implementation and regulation of the smart cities concept, aimed at positioning Serbia as a regional leader and center of excellence in this area.
In addition to MDULS representatives, the meeting was attended by Nikola Vučen, a member of NALED’s Board of Directors and President of Smederevska Palanka Municipality; Dušan Vasiljević, Director of the Department for Competitiveness and Investments; and Ana Milovanović, Regulatory Reform Manager at NALED.