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FEATURED INTERVIEW
by Dragan Nikolić
EDIN DJERLEK
Minister of Balanced Regional Development
The World is Beautiful Because of Its Colourfulness, Not Because of The Uniformity Equality is not uniformity, but learning, understanding and accepting diversity.
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erbia is undergoing a great transformation, while there is a noticeable reduction in regional differences. The Minister of Balanced Regional Development, Edin Djerlek, talked to us about how the differences between Belgrade and the rest of the country are decreasing and how many villages and small communities are once again becoming desirable places to live. How much has Serbia done in terms of balanced regional development since you became the line minister? The Cabinet’s key activities, which I have been at the helm of for less
6
than a year, go in three directions – systemic and institutional improvement of regional development policy, boosting the medium institutional level of regional development through the affirmation of regional strategic planning, increasing the capacity and role of accredited regional development agencies, greater degree of vertical coordination and networking at all three levels (central, regional and local) and encouraging regional
growth through co-financing of important regional and local projects in various areas. Strong coordination of regional development subjects was established at the vertical and horizontal level, for the first time in Serbia. We have increased the capacities of regional development agencies and local governments through more than 90 development projects.
SMALL AND LARGE PLACES SOMETIMES SEEM LIKE DIFFERENT WORLDS, IN ONE, TIME FLOWS MORE SLOWLY, WHILE, IN THE OTHER, QUICKLY
Within the framework of the systemic and institutional improvement of regional development policy, I am particularly proud of a study we drafted called “New Measurement Model for the Level of Development in Municipalities and Cities in the Republic of Serbia”. As a result study, we now have a new methodology for measuring the level of development and, based on it, a new uniform list showing the level of development of cities and municipalities, given that the previous one was outdated and did not reflect the real situation. Now you can get a very precise regional picture of the situation in the municipalities and identify priority areas for investments. www.diplomacyandcommerce.rs
