The minister of finance of the Slovak Republic signed a financial contribution agreement with UNDP to support the preparation of the National Development Strategy 2022 – 2042 of the Republic of North Macedonia project.
Cooperation between Slovakia and North Macedonia in the area of innovation support will continue with the implementation of the project “Support for the preparation of the National Development Strategy 2022 – 2042 of the Republic of North Macedonia – Phase III (NDS)”. Lately the minister of finance of the Slovak Republic signed a financial contribution agreement with UNDP, the amount is EUR 252,200.
The project aims to contribute to the introduction of a national institutional mechanism that will formulate and coordinate the creation of the National Development Strategy for the years 2022-2042 and help with its implementation. The project focuses on changing the creation and implementation of the country’s national policies, namely: (i) preparation of a strategic and flexible plan for the country development with a societal impact for a 20-year time horizon, (ii) strengthening the capacities of the NDS management structure in policy planning and risk prediction, (iii) the process of co-creating the country’s vision with the participation of civil society, the public, the academia and other organizations, (iv) the development of an innovative financial framework to ensure the NDS implementation.
The financial contribution of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic will primarily be aimed at activities related to setting up the financial framework of the strategy and training of the NDS management team. Several donors provide financial contribution to the project, e.g. United Kingdom and the US development agency USAid. The total budget of the third phase of the project is USD 1,315 million.
Activities
As part of the preparation of the NDS output, the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic has committed to financially support the following activities:
- preparation of economic analyzes in the area of setting priorities / measures / indicators of economic growth;
- quality control;
- defining the NDS content – joint planning with citizens on the topic of innovative financing (including proposals for innovative financing pilot projects), the policy-making process and the role of the private sector in the country’s development agenda;
- analysis of current financing mechanisms of national strategies and preparation of a plan for improvement;
- alignment of NDS goals with plans of state institutions (economic development, public finances, fiscal decentralization, rule of law and fight against corruption) and programs of political parties.
As part of the establishment and training of the NDS management structure output, the MF SR will support the following activities:
- working with state institutions and political parties to incorporate the goals of the national development strategy into their strategies and programmes;
- working with key national institutions and non-governmental partners on strategic skills (“foresight and future thinking”) in the field of public financing and innovative ways of financing national strategies;
- establishment of the NDS coordination mechanism focused on public financing, NDS financial framework, monitoring of the NDS action plan.
The project is an initiative of the Deputy Prime Minister of North Macedonia for Economic Affairs, while the idea, methodology and process of creating the NDS is fully supported by the entire government. In addition to specific outputs, the project in a broader framework contributes to the fulfillment of the goals of sustainable development and Agenda 2030, as well as to the fulfillment of the Slovak Republic’s commitments in the area of spending on development cooperation.
North Macedonia has been among the priority countries for development cooperation of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic since 2018. The MF SR supports this country in the form of technical assistance in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Projects focus on public financial management and innovative development planning.
The project is not part of Public Finance for Development programme that has been implemented in the country since 2018. Read more.