‘Improving the Lives of People in Europe and Central Asia’ 2010 Competition
WASHINGTON, March 31, 2010 – The Real Estate Cadastre and Registration project in FYR Macedonia was named one of the 12 winners in the World Bank’s third annual ‘Improving the Lives of People in Europe and Central Asia’ 2010 competition.
“The real estate cadastre reform made great strides over the last four years. We came a long way in a very short period - from the time when cadastre was an obstacle to citizens and businesses, to this day, when we talk about innovative approaches that will make the Macedonian cadastre one of the leaders in the region” – stated Ljupco Georgievski, Director of the Agency for Real Estate Cadastre – “the combination of hard work of all employees in the agency and the assistance of the World Bank team has made great difference for the citizens of Macedonia and the agency”.
The project helped establish the Real Estate Cadastre on the 98% of the territory of the country, helped shorten the time for registration to less than five days (down from 60 days in 2005) and assisted the Government is developing land policies for better management of this important resource. More information are available through www.worldbank.org.mk
“Although many countries in the Europe and Central Asia region enjoyed very strong growth and higher living standards throughout the past decade, the global financial and economic crisis has hit this region the hardest,” said Philippe Le Houérou, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia. “But the winners of the 2010 ‘Improving the Lives of People in Europe and Central Asia’ competition show how innovative projects that improve the daily lives of people in the region despite the harmful effects of the recent financial turmoil on country economies.”
Le Houérou also emphasized that “the winners demonstrate real results, including job growth, establishment of small businesses and improved enterprise access to financing, improved health care and health protection and rehabilitated water and irrigation systems that have increased crop yields, just to name a few. These innovative projects and programs also show that a continuous partnership with the World Bank can leverage the effects of economic downturn and demonstrate a real positive impact on the ground.”
The winners of this year’s competition are (listed in an alphabetical order by country):
Armenia Rural Enterprise and Small Scale Commercial Agriculture Development Project
Armenia Lifeline Road Improvement Project
Azerbaijan Rural Investment Project
Bulgaria Policy Notes
Georgia Joint Needs Assessment, Donors Conference, and Progress Report
Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, and Tajikistan Food Crisis Response Projects
Latvia Safety Net and Social Reform Special Development Policy Loan
Macedonia Real Estate Cadastre and Registration
Russia Health Reform Implementation Project
Tajikistan Community Agriculture and Watershed Management Project
Turkey - Support to the Turkey Health Transformation Program
Ukraine Programmatic Financial Rehabilitation Development Policy Loan 1
The third annual celebration of results to recognize the winners will take place on June 3, 2010, in Washington, DC.
