Participants agreed that peer learning about best regional and international practices and different country experiences in implementing infrastructure governance reforms is a unique value of such international gatherings. As Juraj Mach from the Slovak Ministry of finance explains: “For me personally, such learning events are an opportunity to catch up on what the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international institutions are doing in the area of public infrastructure governance and what are their latest recommendations. But what is perhaps even more important, is an opportunity to hear about the specific country experiences, see what their approaches were to the same problems we are also dealing with. This inspires also our thinking into what actions we should take next to improve our own public investment management (PIM) throughout all stages of a project life cycle.” Ms. Mladenka Balaban from  the Serbian Ministry of Finance also shares this view: “Many of countries in SEE have built a new system for PIM, so it is important for us to hear and learn about different practices from participants in the region in order to be able to integrate them also in our system.”

Mr. Ilir  Rama from Ministry of Finance and Transfers in Kosovo complements this thinking by pointing out also to the fact that is very helpful to be able to learn from countries that share similar history backgrounds, are similar in size of the population, and have experienced similar economic development. Another important point he makes relates to the usefulness of taking a step back and consider both advantages and disadvantages of country’s approach to implementing PIM from a distanced perspective. “We may have a pretty narrow point of view on how we deal with challenges related to PIM but when we engage in learning with our peers from across the region we gain a broader perspective of what we are doing in our own countries, and how we can improve further.” he concludes.

Ms. Aida Soko from the  Office of the Prime Minister of the Federation in Bosnia and Herzegovina offered her appreciation for such unique international gatherings by saying: “Technology today allows us to access many data, information, resources but in my view, nothing can replace live discussions. In particular, in this region we like to have face-to-face discussions, argue and exchange views as this helps us find unique solutions to resolve certain issues and challenges, we face.”

The event also served as a unique networking opportunity as it brought together participants from 11 different European countries. Both Mr. Rama and Mr. Eldin Kurpejović from the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro pointed out the importance of creating connections with colleagues from different countries and the ability to reach out to them also after the event. As a good example that also countries in SEE region could learn from, Mr. Kurpejović pointed to the Network of National Public Investment Systems (SNIP) in Latin America. He learned about the SNIP Network at the event and immediately recognized the value of having 18 South American countries connected in a network to jointly work towards the effectiveness and efficiency in public investment management in respective countries.

This learning event was organized as a regional capacity development effort as part of the “Revenue Administration and Public Financial Management Reform in Southeast Europe’’ project implemented by the International Monetary Fund’s Fiscal Affairs Department (IMF FAD).