Local Economic Development (LED)

Six municipalities in Western Serbia are using resources from the American people and local capacities to work their way into economic recovery and growth.  Since February, 2005 citizens, businesses, and local government officials have learned to analyze their economic situation, compare their capacities to market demands, improve the quality of products, and define a strategy and set of programs to improve their economy. IRD is assisting with implementation of the local economic development strategies using resources from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  The World Bank’s “Cities of Change” methodology was selected as the most appropriate because of its emphasis on cooperation among citizens, businesses, and local government officials. All six pilot municipalities (Arilje, Čajetina, Užice, Krupanj, Vladimirci and Šabac) prepared their LED strategies, in accordance with this five-stage methodology. As the next step in building local economic development capacity, IRD equipped 6 Local Economic Development offices and supported training in the six pilot municipalities for Monitoring and Evaluation of the LED strategies, Project Development, Communication, Marketing, and Promotion. The municipalities are seeking businesses, investors, and donors to invest in these entrepreneurial and reform-oriented communities.

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