Administrative Twinning with Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Government congratulates Formez

On the occasion of the national Bulgarian Civil Servants Day in Sofia, the Italian Ambassador awarded a Diploma of Appreciation to Formez for the Twinning project "Strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of State Administration and Administrative Reform for quality management of the administrative service delivery".
The project which was embarked on on September 24th 2007 and concluded on June 24th, fostered modernization and efficiency in the Bulgarian Public Administration in order to transform the latter into a customer-friendly structure and thus, to meet expectations and needs of the Bulgarian citizens.
In this regard, the Twinning tool played the role of support to the Bulgarian Ministry of Public Administration and Administrative Reform for introducing, implementing and monitoring CAF (Common Assessment Framework) as “Quality Management System”  as well as for improving self-assessment methods in view of a broader development of the administrative network through the use of specific indicators for monitoring user satisfaction.
The project was realized by the Italian Department of Public Administration (Dipartimento della Funzione Pubblica) and Formez and piloted Italian experts to Bulgaria, where the latter had the chance of outlining CAF techniques and their applicability to the Bulgarian Public Administration. The Bulgarian civil servants were received also by those Italian administrations which have successfully applied CAF methods.
During the initial study visit, the Bulgarian civil servants with the assistance of Formez, met the Municipalities of Jesolo and Trento, the Office of the Provincial School of Venice and Belluno, the Primary School of Conselve and a Primary School from Padua. The second study visit allowed for the sharing of experiences with the Department of Public Administration, the Customs Agency in Rome, the Campania Region, the Municipality of Florence and Formez.
The Deputy Chairman of Formez Enrico Borghi expressed great satisfaction for the initiative which “allowed Bulgaria to introduce modern instruments for benchmarking and measurement of the quality of services in its administrative system. Inspiration was taken by the original features of the Italian model “Buoni Esempi” for the Public Administrations which has been developed by Formez with much conviction in recent years”. To invest in new Community resources is of great importance, Mr. Borghi continued, because “with this Twinning initiative, the Bulgarian system has substantially been able to improve efficiency and effectiveness of its services as well as customer satisfaction through the introduction of user satisfaction indicators. We are extremely pleased about the letter that the Bulgarian Minister of Public Administration and Administrative Reform Nikolay Vasilev addressed to the Italian Minister of Public Administration Renato Brunetta – Mr. Borghi concluded – because it emphasizes the high-quality assistance to foreign administrations provided by Formez. This leads us to pursue future objectives with the ambition to continuously improve our role of inter-institutional agency, thus helping us provide public services of excellence”.
 
Below, the letter which the Ambassador of Italy in Sofia addressed to President Carlo Flamment to communicate the awarding (courtesy translation).

I wish to inform you that on June 23rd 2008 on “Civil Servants Day” in Bulgaria, the Minister of Public Administration and Administrative Reform Nikolay Vasilev released a diploma addressed to the undersigned with the intention to express thanks by the Bulgarian Steering Committee for the fundamental contribution given to the Italian Public Administration on the positive conclusion of the Administrative Twinning light BG/2005/IB/OT/04/UE/TWL entitled "Strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of State Administration and Administrative Reform for Quality Management of the Administrative Service Delivery".
The project which commenced on September 24th 2007 and concluded on June 24th, fostered modernization and efficiency in the Bulgarian Public Administration in order to transform the latter into a customer-friendly structure and thus, to meet expectations and needs of the Bulgarian citizens.

In this regard, the Twinning tool gave great support to the Bulgarian Ministry of Public Administration and Administrative Reform for introducing, implementing and monitoring CAF (Common Assessment Framework) as “Quality Management System”  as well as improving self-assessment methods in view of a broader development of the administrative network through the use of specific indicators for monitoring user satisfaction.
In the first place, I am very pleased to inform FORMEZ and the Italian Department of Public Administration – who I will inform likewise – as well as all those who have performed with professional competency and seriousness under their direction, about the names of those in charge of TWL and the winners.
I would like to take the opportunity for congratulating you on the appreciation received by the Italian Public Administration at the Bulgarian Public Administration.
Best regards
 
Sofia, July 5th, 2008                                                             Stefano Benazzo