Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, supported by the EU funded “Exchange 3″ Programme,  organized a training for newly appointed SLAP Coordinators on Monday, 24th of December 2012, in Hotel “M” in Belgrade. Around 30 SLAP coordinators from cities and municipalities throughout Serbia participated in the event, together with representatives of the Ministry of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection, Directorate for Waters and Municipal Infrastructure Support Programme.

Present SLAP coordinators were informed about basics of SLAP information system, it’s purpose and key elements. Sectoral questionnaires for registering projects were presented and instructions provided on best practices in organizing (inter)municipal cooperation in identifying and registering projects, as well as where all the various documents and information could be found by SLAP coordinators. Representatives of the Ministry and the Directorate for Waters presented ways in which these institutions use SLAP for identification and selection of projects, as well as main principles and framework for project development in area of Environmental Protection. Instructions were also given regarding project cycle management, key points of project development and previous experiences in formulating and developing projects. City of Pozarevac shared their experiences in using SLAP database, and suggested methods for organizing effective project identification and development system within and between municipalities.

Presentations from the training can be downloaded HERE (in Serbian).

Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities organized the Third Meeting of SLAP Coordinators on Monday, 5th of November 2012, in Belgrade “Palace” Hotel.

SLAP coordinators had an opportunity to hear about the latest developments of the SLAP Information System, and share their experiences in registering projects.

Representative of the Ministry of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection presented how the Ministry uses SLAP IS for programming EU and international funds, as well as future plans for infrastructure development.

Participants shared their experiences and provided suggestions for registering environmental protection projects, as well as filling out recently implemented questionnaires for business infrastructure. Trainings for SLAP coordinators to be organized through the MISP IPA 2010 Programme were also presented and discussed.

Presentations from the Third Meeting of SLAP Coordinators can be downloaded here.

Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities (SCTM) in cooperation with EXCHANGE 3 Programme, financed by the European Union, supports improvement of municipal capacities in the process of introducing standards and preparing for EU accession.  Significant results have been achieved in the previous period, related to development and financing of local infrastructure through the development of SLAP Information System and support to the emission of first municipal bonds in Serbia.

As part of these activities, Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities organized a National Conference “Financing Infrastructure on the Local Level – Opportunities and Challenges”, on 16th of October 2012, in the Belgrade Sava Center.

The Conference was primarily aimed at mayors, heads of budget and financial departments, members of local administration responsible for infrastructure and project development, as well as other interested participants. Plans and opinions of the line ministries for the upcoming period – Ministry for Regional Development and Local Self-Government and Ministry of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection were also  presented. Representatives of municipalities had an opportunity to participate in panel discussions on two topics: “Infrastructure projects at the local level – priorities for financing” and “Municipal bonds – instrument for supporting infrastructure development”.

Presentations from the National Conference can be downloaded here.

Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities organized the workshop “Managing Infrastructure Projects at the Local Level”, on Friday, 14^th of September 2012.

Presentations from the workshop can be downloaded here.

From May to August 2012, Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, in close cooperation with the relevant line ministries of the Republic of Serbia, has been improving the SLAP Information System for registering Business Infrastructure projects.

Updated questionnaires are available online for the following Business Infrastructure subsectors:

• Industrial zones, including technological and industrial parks (also including logistics infrastructure);
• Business incubators;
• Tourism infrastructure.

A project prioritisation methodology has been developed in line with the questionnaires.