Vranje, 10 August 2016 – The European Union and Swiss Government will, through the European PROGRES programme, provide funds in the amount of over two and a half million Euros for new projects aiming to improve the lives of people in 34 municipalities in South East and South West Serbia, it was decided today at the second European PROGRES Annual Steering Committee Meeting in Vranje.
The approved support also includes the funding of 14 local infrastructure projects in the amount of 1.5 million Euros and 17 micro and small enterprises with 253,880 Euros. European PROGRES will, by procuring equipment in the amount of 183,307 Euros, also support 22 young people to start their own businesses.
“European Union and Swiss Government are continuing support for the development of local infrastructure, which will help improve the quality of life of the people as well as the overall business environment, which is required for attracting investments,” said Graeme Tyndall, European PROGRES Manager. As Tyndall stated, by supporting business start-ups and self-employment of youth, European PROGRES is contributing to the competitiveness of the local economy, opening new jobs and encouraging entrepreneurship.
Activity proposals for implementing measures from the Strategy for Social Inclusion of Roma Men and Women on the Local Level were also supported at the Meeting, with 150,000 Euros.
In addition, Steering Committee Members approved the project proposal to provide support to local self-governments in the implementation of the electronic system for issuing building permits, in the amount of 71,000 Euros, which will be implemented by European PROGRES in partnership with the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED). The criteria of the public call for implementation of the programme for vocational training in local self-governments were also approved. Both initiatives aim to improve competitiveness in the municipalities covered by the Programme.
“We’ve made important decisions today, we have a number of projects ahead, and what’s important is to encourage all local self-governments to engage in the preparation of sound project proposals, line with the needs of the population and development priorities,” said Ana Stanković, Project Manager with the Delegation of the European Union in Serbia.
Over the last two years, European PROGRES has supported 214 projects, 66 of which have already been finalised, and the following achieved results were highlighted: updating taxpayers’ databases in 16 local tax administrations, which should increase revenues in municipal budgets by 13 percent, as well as the development of 20 Main Designs to enable construction and help municipalities get donor funding. Social inclusion of vulnerable groups in the Programme municipalities has been considerably improved through 19 projects implemented in partnership between CSOs and municipalities, which, among other things, enabled 31 women to get full-time jobs, while 23 persons with disabilities were engaged part-time.
The most important individual project is the finalisation of construction and equipping of the building for the higher education institution of the bilingual Subotica Faculty of Economics' Department in Bujanovac, now attended by nearly 400 students.
“The Programme is now at the height of implementation, and in order to successfully realise all activities during the next, last year of implementation, active participation of our partners is necessary, primarily the local self-governments. It is important that all the activities continue in the same dynamics in all municipalities, regardless of the change of local authorities after the April elections”, added Graeme Tyndall, European PROGRES Manager.
Slobodan Milenković, the Mayor of Vranje, expressed his gratitude for the support that for years the European Union and Swiss Government had been giving Vranje, placing particular emphasis on the importance of the assistance in the preparation of Detailed Regulation Plans for the industrial zone, which had helped attract foreign investors, like Geox and Ditre Italia.
“The local self-government in Vranje will continue to actively participate in the implementation of development projects funded by the European Union and Swiss Government, the priority certainly being the completion of the construction of the General Hospital Surgical Ward, because this project is important for the entire Pčinjski District,” concluded Milenković.
