Belgrade, 6th November – Together with the Minister of Agriculture and Environment and Mayor of Nis, Mr. Jean-Luc Oesch, Charge d’Affaires of the Swiss Embassy in Serbia opened the conference on Rural Development. The conference was organized by the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities and the Project “Municipal Economic Development in Eastern Serbia” both supported by SDC. The conference has been attended by 250 participants among which mayors and employees in municipalities, experts in rural development and representatives of the international community. The speech of Mr. Oesch is enclosed below:
Opening Remarks by Mr. Jean-Luc Oesch, Deputy Head of the Swiss Embassy at the conference on "The role of local government in rural development"
Belgrade 5 November 2014
In presence of H. E. Ms. Snežana Bogosavljević-Bošković, Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental protection and Mr. Zoran Perišić, President of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) and Mayor of Niš
Madam Minister,
Mr. Mayor and President of the SCTM,
Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a privilege for the Swiss Government to partner with the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental protection in the field of rural development.
In my country, Switzerland, like in yours, rural areas are a very important resource in many aspects, including a significant amount of human resources, natural resources (agricultural land, forests, water) with rich eco-systems and biodiversity, as well as industrial activity, cultural and historic heritage. The Swiss population, like the Serbian population, is deeply attached to those areas.
Our close cooperation and partnership with the Ministry is made possible thanks to different partners, both at national level (e.g. the Standing Conference for Town and Municipalities) and at international level (e.g. GIZ, in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development). I would like here to thank our partners.
The projects we have been supporting so far have been effective in the promotion of the rural development. Also, very concrete support is planned for the future for rural development initiatives in East Serbia, which may lead to additional jobs and income in rural areas. The main objective of decentralized rural development is to transfer responsibility for decision-making that directly affects rural communities to the municipalities themselves, as much as it is possible. The decision-making process thus becomes transparent for all stakeholders, opening up opportunities for citizens' participation at the local level. At the end of the day our aim is to bring citizens closer to their local government.
To achieve that purpose local government units must themselves actively work on the adoption of modern management principles of public policy related to rural areas and set up an adequate institutional framework for effective consultation and action. This is precisely where, based on the Swiss experience, Switzerland being very much a decentralized country, the Swiss Government and its development agency can offer advice and support.
By organizing today’s conference, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental protection shows not just a high degree of responsibility towards its rural communities but also its commitment to European values as well as EU integration. As we all know, more than 70% of the EU Acquis will have to be implemented at local level.
Today’s conference offers a real opportunity, from different perspectives and through the exchange of opinions and experiences, but also from the professional point of view, to look at the role of local level in the definition and implementation of rural development policy and meet the standards established by international and in particular EU standards.
I thank you for your attention and wish you a nice and productive conference.
