Struga, a model of a municipality's development potential

On the second day of the study visit to the Republic of Macedonia, held as part of the modular programme on inter-municipal cooperation, we visited the Municipality of Struga, where the delegation was received by the mayor, Mr Ramiz Merko, and the chair of the council, Mr Resul Kaba. Many issues were raised at the meeting, ranging from the functioning of the municipality, development projects, inter-municipal cooperation, public enterprises and local economic development to strategic planning.

Mayor Merko informed the participants about the steps this municipality has taken to encourage and attract direct investment. He spoke in particular about the development potential the Municipality of Struga has through the use of municipal land. The Acting Executive Director of the KLGI Institute, Mr Besnik Muçaj, spoke with interest about the form of inter-municipal cooperation and enquired about the regional development projects that Macedonian municipalities use for large investment projects.

At the meeting, the participants from the municipalities raised their interest in strengthening regional cooperation between municipalities through twinning. At the same time, the form of management of public enterprises as important instruments of municipalities was addressed.

This programme is supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Kosovo.