Rationale for strengthening regional capacities
Major socio-economic changes, such as globalization, economic
and political transition, and rapid development of information
technology, have influenced societies to an extent beyond the
control of the central governments. It has been widely recognized
that development can no longer be handled by the central government
alone, and many more government and non-governmental actors need to
be involved in the development process. In addition, as the
importance of participation by civil society actors is increasingly
recognized, regional and local governments have greater potential
than central government to encourage citizens’ participation and to
forge partnerships with local communities in order to pursue
bottom-up and people-centred development.
We are active in various areas, such as:
- Strengthening regional institutional capacities
- Establishment of regional based Management Information Systems
(MIS) and monitoring of implementation processes
- Creation of networks, knowledge management systems, centres of
excellence and regional training centres
- Advocating Public-Private Partnerships as an appropriate method
of financing investment
- Drafting strategic documents, concepts and regional innovation
strategies
- Strengthening the decentralization process in decision-making
and financing
