New Banat development project in preparation

Novi Sad, 5 October – The Vice-president of the Executive Council of the Automous Province of Vojvodina, Dr. Gábor Lodi, the Director of the Office for European Affairs, Predrag Novikov, and the representatives of the Capital Investment Fund have received the regional development programme coordinator for Banat, Florian Hauser, and the Director of the Regional Agency for Socio-Economic Development – Banat, Ltd. Zrenjanin (RDA – Banat), Mirjana Paunov. The topic of discussion was the realization strategy of the EU’s Municipal Support Programme for North-east Serbia. The programme has been implemented in three Banat districts, encompassing 19 municipalities, on the territory of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and key regional partners have been the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and RDA – Banat. The discussion provided an opportunity for information exchange on the situation in Banat municipalities and priority areas which should be included in the programme. The EU programme, which has been managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) and which overall objective is contribute to the capacity building for sustainable socio-economic development in Banat and Braničevo District, will ensure €6.7 million for technical assistance. Potential beneficiaries will be enabled to develop new skills for responsible resource management through the support for programme implementation and in cooperation with partners at local, provincial and national level. The EAR will allocate €13.5 million to finance priority investment projects, which will contribute to local economic development in Banat and Braničevo District. A conclusion has been reached that it is necessary to ensure cooperation with relevant secretariats of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and Capital Investments Fund of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in order to form a working group which will develop about ten regional and about ten local projects and after that the projects which will fit into the EAR development strategy will be chosen.