VKC shared experiences with colleagues in Romania

Governance coordination center (VKC) actively participates in initiatives aimed at overcoming the governance challenges of public institutions not only in Lithuania but also abroad. On February 28, VKC Head of Governance Department, Romas Švedas, shared his experience at an event organized by the Economic Cooperation and Development Organization (ECDO) in Bucharest, Romania, focused on strengthening public sector reform in Romania.

Romania seeks membership in the ECDO organization and to that end is implementing public sector governance reform. In order to assist Romania in overcoming the governance challenges of its public institutions, the ECDO organized a seminar and invited experts from Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom (UK), and Lithuania.

According to R. Švedas, the seminar focused significantly on Lithuania because Sweden, Finland, or the UK already have extensive experience in public sector governance, whereas Lithuania’s strong results in public sector governance have only been achieved in the last 5-10 years. The transformation of Lithuania’s public sector governance was evaluated as a success story.

“At the end of last year, Romania established the Agency for the Coordination of Public Institution Activities (AMEPIP), so Romanian representatives were inquiring about how the relevant Lithuanian organization – VKC – operates. In response to the question of how to motivate public institutions to achieve higher results in good governance, we informed them that VKC conducts an annual assessment of Lithuania’s public sector governance and publicly announces the Public Sector Governance Index. This creates not only competition among public institutions but also identifies weak areas of company activity that need improvement,” shared R. Švedas experience from Bucharest.

According to the head of VKC governance department, Romanian representatives expressed a desire for seminars of this nature to continue to be organized. Colleagues from Romania were invited to come to Lithuania and become more acquainted with VKC activities.