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Center of Excellence in Finance
Learning and Regional Cooperation in South East Europe
Learning Activities

Adding value through high-quality learning events

Our workshops & seminars are tailor-made and aim to satisfy the immediate learning needs and priorities of the South East Europe. This practical orientation enables a rich exchange of experiences to help tackle specific challenges.

Our highly focused programs provide guidance for current and future tasks in reforming public finance and strengthening central banking. They also develop government officials’ individual capacity and teamwork, through an emphasis on effective communication and constructive problem solving.

 
 
 
Tax Policy and
Administration  
The overarching theme of the CEF taxation learning program in 2015 will continue to revolve around modern, risk-based approaches to tax compliance, combining traditional learning methods with the participatory approach to learning. The emphasis here is on strengthening beneficiary institutions’ capacity in implementing the EU’s recommendations under which the revenue authorities can deliver tax compliance risk management. The latter reflects the emerging need identified by SEE tax agencies to increase tax compliance, achieve administrative efficiencies, and reduce revenue risks and compliance costs for taxpayers.
Budget Prepartion and Execution  
The CEF helps member countries improve the quality of fiscal management and strengthen oversight of the design and implementation of fiscal policy through building public financial management capacity with a focus on budget formulation and execution processes. The fiscal management requirements for EU membership are also fully integrated into our program.
Treasury, Accounting, and Financial Reporting  
High-quality financial reporting is crucial to effective financial management in the public sector. Our learning activities in this area support improvements in the public sector accounting systems and standards in South East Europe. In 2015 topics related to cost accounting and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) will remain in focus.

The main developments and innovations in cash and debt management are the focus of the treasury learning program. Debt and cash management operations have assumed greater importance as significant repricing of risk and a high level of demand for international capital place increasing pressures on debt managers to fund ongoing government operations.
Internal and External Accountability Mechanisms  
Our learning program on internal and external accountability mechanisms offers a variety of learning events that reflect the needs and current challenges in internal and external audit profession. The overall aim of the program is to facilitate exchange of knowledge among practitioners that are involved in internal and external accountability mechanisms and to support the introduction of good international practice in the region.

In 2015 the program will focus on strengthening auditors’ knowledge and skills in performance, financial and information technology audit. The program will also examine institutional challenges of Supreme Audit Institutions in SEE. By addressing statistical sampling it will review techniques that are crucial for delivery of audit evidence. Proper understanding of risk management concept, phases and underlying principles will also be discussed.
Our Public Financial Management program covers all phases of the budgeting process, including strategic planning, revenue and expenditures management, and internal and external accountability mechanisms.
Central banks with their monetary and regulatory tools are vital for ensuring stability and development of national economies. Recent economic developments have additionally reshaped their position and highlighted the importance of their supervisory role.

In their efforts to ensure macroeconomic stability together with safeguarding the stability of the financial sector, the CEF assists central banks to strengthen capacities by enhancing individual and institutional knowledge and skills through learning activities. We strive to present good international standards in central banking and to enable their easier application at the national level.
Leading reforms incorporates many risks. Alongside good technical proposals many other factors have proven to be of critical importance. The significance of soft skills is increasing to a major extent in achieving reform success in public financial management, and is said to have a transformative effect on reform processes. Our selection of courses on these topics aims to strengthen institutional capacities in soft skills of project and change management, leadership, communication, and coordination which will allow technical experts to perform at their best.

How will you benefit from attending our workshops and seminars:
  • We use varied learning methods and tools that take into account different learning styles and make the experience interactive, stimulating, and fun
  • Our learning activities challenge participants to “think outside the box,” comparing their practices with others, learning from them and sharing what they know
  • We work with a wide network of experts that bring international experience to focus on country practices, keeping theoretical discussions to a minimum
  • After each learning activity participants assess their learning experience and influence the design of future learning activities
  • We measure gains in knowledge and skills against a benchmark from pre-learning assignments and tests
LEARNING_PROGRAM_2016
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For more information on CEF's learning initiatives, browse through our learning program for 2016.

CEF Comic 2015
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