Public Administration an important Location Factor

On 2. and 3. April 2009 the Georgian Ministry of Justice and the GTZ, German Technical Corporation’s Project on „Support to the Legal and Judicial System in Georgia“ co-hosted a conference on “Aspects of a Modern Public Administration” in Tbilisi. In her opening speech, Ms Tinatin Burjaliani, the Georgian First Deputy Minister of Justice stated that: “the reform of Georgia’s public administration is of primary importance. The public administration must become more flexible, transparent and efficient.”

The outcomes of this conference were a set of tangible recommendations to further develop the public administration. These recommendations were based on a common understanding that:

“a constitutional, modern and well functioning public administration is a key location factor for the sustainable economic development of a country. Therefore, the public administration must continuously be developed and modernized. All parties concerned must collaborate in this on-going process. Public administration must be organized in an efficient and citizen-friendly manner. The interaction organisation, technology and citizens must be taken into consideration. Experiences in other countries are of great importance.”

All together some 165 participants, amongst them a high-ranking delegation from Azerbaijan took part in this conference. Members of the Georgian Parliament including the Chairperson of the Judiciary Committee, the President of the Supreme Court of Georgia and judges from all levels of jurisdiction, representatives from state and local government institutions as well as from civil society participated in this conference. From Germany Ms Marion Eckertz-Hofer, the President of the Federal Administrative Court of Germany, Mr. Johann Hahlen, former Secretary of State of the Ministry of the Interior of the Federal Republic of Germany and Mr. Hermann Hill, Professor at the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer, participated in the conference as guest speakers.

A range of concepts on how to structure a modern public administration were presented and jointly discussed by delegates during the conference. In due course the presentations and recommendations will be published by the GTZ-project.