CEF Annual report 2021

48 CEF BUSINESS REPORT 2021
GOVERNANCE 49
Advisory Board
OUR PARTNERS
ODI really values the partnership
with CEF and there is a lot
of potential to deepen our cooperation
in the future. It offers an opportunity
to bridge international and national
debates on economic and fiscal management
in some new and exciting ways.
ODI’s research can offer a fresh perspective
on what constitutes “best practice” in
different countries. For example, we have
particular expertise on the capabilities
that support an effective finance ministry,
a strong budget office or ministry finance
function, and a good tax policy making process.
These may be useful for CEF’s members
as they try to make sense of international
experiences and implement reforms.
On the other hand, I believe CEF and its
partners have lessons that many other in
Africa, Asia, and other regions would like to
hear about.
Sierd Hadley
Research Fellow
ODI
The CEF Secretariat has strong
support from an advisory group of
experts, consisting of our donors and
partners. They provide knowledge,
critical thinking, analysis, and their
understanding of the relevant
topics in the region and broader.
By advising on the relevance of the
CEF program for our beneficiary
institutions, they increase the impact
of the CEF’s learning and knowledgesharing
program.
The Advisory Board has currently three representatives
in the Governing Board from the
GIZ, the Ministry of Finance, Slovakia, and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovenia. The chair
of the Advisory Board is Ms. Mateja Vraničar
Erman from the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs*. The annual meeting of the Advisory
Board was organized as a hybrid event on October
6, 2021. At the 2021 meeting, we welcomed
a new member to the board, Mr. Sierd
Hadley, Research Fellow at the ODI.
*Former Chair, Ms. Andreja Jerina, retired in early 2022.
PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS
AT THE 2021 ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
• GIZ
• Ministry of Finance, the Netherlands
• Ministry of Finance, Slovakia
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Slovenia
• National Bank of Belgium
In the past 20 years, our partnerships significantly
contributed to achieving more than we could on
our own. We partner with multilateral and bilateral
organizations, knowledge institutions, and peer organizations.
They are invaluable in the implementation
of our learning and knowledge-sharing program by
providing resources and expertise. Together we foster
collaboration, synergize on each other’s strengths
and as such, set a good example for the region. Our
exchange of expertise and widening the networks
also mutually amplify our efforts for improving structural
reforms in the region.
We keep regular contact with our partners. In 2021,
we had to again meet online for our annual after-
New-Year gathering, organized as a series of virtual
meetings with selected institutions. This year, CEF
also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).
INTERNATIONAL
MONETARY FUND
Since signing a Memorandum of Understanding
in 2017, the IMF and the CEF have further
strengthened the partnership. We complement
each other’s work by exchanging our knowledge
of the regional needs and addressing them by
joining our institutional expertise and experience.
We combine our learning and knowledge-sharing
program with the IMF’s country-specific
capacity development programs
and projects, thus supporting institutions and
countries in developing mechanisms for growth.
Many of the CEF courses are co-delivered with
the IMF regional advisors for SEE or colleagues
from the IMF headquarters. In 2021 CEF hosted
two IMF Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) Regional
Advisors for PFM and revenue administration.
Their work is presented in the Appendix.
The IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD)
and the CEF have continued to collaborate
in addressing the Southeast Europe
(SEE) region’s capacity development (CD) challenges.
The overarching goal is to help the SEE countries to
strengthen their fiscal institutions, aligned with international
good practices. This is critical for these countries
to achieve macroeconomic stability and sustainable
growth, mobilize revenue to finance expenditure
policies, and implement essential structural reforms
across government areas. In 2021, we worked together
to provide responsive and agile CD to address the
specific challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic
and to prepare for the recovery phase.
The FAD-CEF cooperation leverages longstanding
relations between FAD and the respective SEE countries
in modernizing their public financial management
(PFM) and revenue administration (RA) institutions
and CEF’s work with the countries that focuses
on regional learning. We therefore look forward to the
continued collaboration including by further increasing
synergies across the region.
Vitor Gaspar
Director
Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF