Minister of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government Milan Markovic today stated that good public administration is one of the key factors of the state’s economic growth.

Opening a two-day regional conference “Services, skills and capacity – challenges in building a modern public administration in Europe”, Markovic stressed that EU accession is the greatest challenge in all countries in the region.

The region is linked in many ways and we must find a path to get closer and cooperate in a number of areas in order to improve the lives of our citizens, he said.

Public administration reform is a painstaking process the aim of which is to have synchronised and better regulations, public finances and fight against corruption, the Minister specified.

The Serbian government is fully committed to public administration reform and strives to establish good cooperation with the region in this field, Markovic added.

Swedish Ambassador to Serbia Christer Asp and head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert also attended the opening.

The regional conference brought together over 200 participants: public administration ministers from Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, Albania and Serbia, representatives of EU institutions, representatives of government agencies, the civil sector, as well as domestic and foreign professional public.

The conference is organised by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, Public Administration and Local Self-Government with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Swedish Institute of Public Administration.