Support in transforming the Local Development Plans into concrete development tools.

The Regional Development Department, in the framework of the “Community Works III” Project has assisted 16 Communes via the provision of the technical assistance in drafting LDPs (Local Development Plans) or other sectoral plans as well as provision of investments in infrastructure. This project aims at improving the living conditions of the rural population by drafting local development plans for the communes which possess potentials for the economic development especially in tourism.

Since the first week of April 2010, the Regional Development Department is conducting a series of training sessions embracing the entire project participating communes with the aim of employing the LDPs to the best advantage by transforming them into concrete development tools.

These trainings are attended by the Commune officials and representatives of the Commune Council, representatives of the Finance Department, of the Urban Department, the Juridical Sector, the Development and Project Sector, the Tax Office, the Agriculture Sector etc.

The topics to be addressed in these training deal with the budgeting of development plan and medium term development programs at local level, the performance at local level, the capital investment plan and the regional development fund. These topics are delivered by the staff of the Regional Development Department on a two-day training course per Commune.

The goal of these training modules is that upon completion of the training session, the Communes should be able to include the identified objectives and projects in the LDPs and in the Mid-term Budgeting Programs (MBP) which meet the established standards of performance at local level by materializing the financial part through technical documents of the ready-made project files compiled in the framework of the Capital Investment Plans. Similarly, upon completion of the training course, the Communes will have broader information concerning the Regional Development Fund and will be more familiarized with the application practices for this important financial instrument.

The training intertwines the theoretical material with the practical approaches by engaging the participants in the solution of concrete problems highlighted by their development plans or other strategic documents prepared by the commune.
 
The first training session was held at the premises of Tregan Commune with its staff from 7 to 8 April 2010. Thanks to the cooperation with the Commune officials, training sessions are being held in other communes and are expected to finish by the beginning of June.