Transfer of knowledge to foreign countries; the constituency program

Technical assistance is defined as the transfer of knowledge by or via the Ministry of Finance to counterparts abroad which can be organized in different ways, for example workshops, seminars and study visits in the Netherlands or missions in the countries themselves. Since the assistance could be mutually beneficial we often refer to it as technical cooperation.

The constituency context

The Ministry of Finance has close relations with her counterparts in the countries that share the Dutch constituencies at IMF, World Bank Group and EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development). This special relationship is the fundament for the Constituency Program. Countries eligible for technical cooperation within this program are Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, North Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Romania and Ukraine.

Technical cooperation

The Constituency Program of the Ministry of Finance aims to assist Ministries of Finance and affiliated organizations in constituency countries in achieving (or promote awareness of) European and international standards in the area of transparent and solid public finances.  Dutch best practices can be instrumental to achieve that aim. 

The technical cooperation:

• Is based on firm requests for technical assistance from the country’s Ministries of Finance or affiliated organizations (demand driven);
• Is mainly delivered by our own experts, exchanging knowledge and experiences with their colleagues in the countries concerned. The experts apply an interactive and tailor made approach in trainings and other activities. The idea is to learn together, not teach.
• Is coordinated with the work of EU, International Financial Institutions (IFI’s) and other (bilateral) donors.

Area’s covered by the Constituency Program

Budget: budget process (preparation, execution, supervision), budget legislation;

Audit and control (including combatting corruption and fraud);

• Tax and customs: tax and customs policy, tax and customs administration;
• Public Private Partnerships (PPP’s);
• Anti money laundering;
• Export credit insurance;
• Debt and cash management;
• Financial markets;
• Financial education;
• EU issues like EU coordination structures, preparation of EU Presidency

Formats

The assistance delivered can be shaped in different formats:

• Short mission of Dutch experts to the country.
• Depending on the issue, the specific need in the country and the availability of our experts, the involvement of experts could have a longer time span.
• Study visit to the Netherlands.
• (Participation in) seminars and workshops, in the Netherlands or abroad, for example at the Centre of Excellence in Finance (CEF) in Slovenia.
• Projects that cover several constituency countries (regional focus, knowledge sharing).
• Cooperation in projects with other (bilateral) donors, EU and/or IFI’s in a particular country.

Our partners

The activities in the context of the Constituency Program are mainly delivered by our own staff. Besides that, the Ministry of Finance works closely with several partners in the Netherlands and abroad to deliver the assistance:

• National Academy for Finance and Economics;
• The Netherlands Tax and Customs Administration, including FIOD (Fiscal Information and Investigation Service);
• Central Government Audit Service;
• Line Ministries;
• De Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch Central Bank);
• The Netherlands Court of Audit;
• Money Wise Platform (financial education);
• Netherlands Council for Real Estate Assessment;
• Authority for Financial Markets (AFM);
• Organizations in the area of anti money laundering like the AMLCentre, FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit) and FEC (Financial Expertise Centre);
• Centre of Excellence in Finance (Slovenia);
• International organizations and (bilateral) donors like IMF, World Bank, OECD, EU, GIZ and Good Governance Fund;
• The Dutch embassies in the constituency countries;
• The Dutch constituency offices in Washington (IMF, World Bank) and London (EBRD).