The Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Branko Ružić and Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and Minister of Public Administration, Boris Koprivnikar have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of professional development today. The Memorandum will involve the exchange of good practice, experience and knowledge in the field, as well as sending officers for internships. Ružić said that support, experience as well as good practices of the countries in the region, especially of those that went through the process of European integration, are significant Serbia. “Our cooperation with Slovenia has developed in many areas in terms of the public administration reform. My colleague Koprivnikar and I have also discussed the exchange of experience and knowledge regarding professional development of employees today, as well as during the joint session of the two governments, because we agree that good officers are the key to good administration,” the Minister said. Koprivnikar assessed that an institution or an organization cannot be successful unless it is made up of educated, trained and motivated people. He said that Slovenia traditionally exchanges experiences and has excellent cooperation with Serbia. “The more we discuss the more we are in agreement that we are facing the same problems and challenges that require similar solutions. That is why the signing of this Agreement is important, because it formalizes the ways and principles of cooperation in the field of professional development of public administration employees,” Koprivnikar said. In order to achieve this goal, the Serbian minister said that in the past period, very important laws had been passed – the Law on the National Academy and the Law on eGovernment, the first laws of this kind in our country. “The Academy will provide quality and educated employees, and the Law on eGovernment has obligated us, as an administration, to use modern technologies in our work, which will significantly contribute to the easier cooperation between citizens and the administration and greater trust in state institutions,” said Ružić emphasizing that the Academy has already started training, and that it will work full time from the autumn.