State Secretaries from Republic of Moldova on a Study Visit to Vilnius and Riga

During 24-28 October, within the EU-funded Twinning project „Support to the Civil Service Modernization in the Republic of Moldova in line with EU best practices”, a Study Visit was conducted to Lithuania (Vilnius) and Latvia (Riga) for the State Secretaries from Moldovan ministries. The objective of this event was to familiarize the participants with the operation mechanisms of the public administration system in view of the respective category of top civil servants. The delegation from Moldova consisting of State Secretaries from 11 ministries was headed by Mr. Roman Cazan, Deputy Secretary General of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, who is also the Project Leader from behalf of the beneficiary state.  

The first part of the visit included participation to a series of meetings at the Government Office of Lithuania during which they discussed subjects on public governance, legislative procedure, Government decision making process and Government‘s sitting organization, instruments and procedures of efficient communication, etc.. During the meetings at the Civil Service Department, the participants tackled such subjects as:  recruitment system of civil servants, including for management civil service positions, IT tools applied in Lithuanian civil service, etc.

Among the main objectives of the study visit was attending the State Secretaries’ meetings in the respective countries by the members of Moldovan delegation. Thus, on 25 October, the State Secretaries had the opportunity to participate to the meeting of State Secretaries from those 14 ministries of the Lithuanian Government, which is held prior to the Government sitting, to see how this mechanism is being implemented. 

Also, another objective of the visit was participation of the State Secretaries to bilateral meetings with their counterparts, during which they discussed a series of subjects related to functioning of the State Secretaries institute, as well as to analyze the methods and steps for the implementation of this institute. Therefore, after attending the meeting held prior to the Government sitting (26.10.2016), which takes place every week, followed a series of bilateral meetings with the State Secretaries (Chancellors) from the ministries of the Republic of Lithuania, where the participants have discussed about general aspects related to the functioning of this institute, but also technical details regarding the use of a set of instruments within the ministry represented by each of them. 

On 26 October, in Riga, the delegation from the Republic of Moldova had a meeting with the Director of Institute for Public Law from Latvia to discuss about the public sector reforms in Latvia, State Secretaries as an institution and other successful practices applied by Latvia while implementing the respective reform. Subsequently, during the visit to Riga, the participants attended the meeting of State Secretaries in Latvia (10.27.2016) where they had the opportunity to see how the subjects included in the agenda are discussed and debated, as well as how decisions are made on specific topics dedicated to this meeting. And here as well, after that meeting, the State Secretaries from the ministries of Moldova had bilateral discussions with their counterparts, where they tackled and reflected upon the respective governance model and possible ways of its implementation in our country.

In a series of meetings at the State Chancellery of Latvia were discussed such topics as: the status and responsibilities of state secretaries, policy planning and implementation and the involvement of top civil servants in these processes, the rules of procedure of the State Chancellery of Latvia, which describes all stages of decision-making process, including circulation of documents within the institution and IT tools used in that process. Moreover, the discussions focused also on the role of State Secretaries as care-takers of public interest and their involvement in the management of state owned enterprises.

“When we are speaking about central public administration reform, we refer to the improvement of public sector management and efficiency of public administration. In these areas, Lithuania and Latvia’s experience shows that the role of State Secretaries from ministries and their contribution to strategic planning and setting strategic directions is fundamental. We are fully aware that the institution of State Secretaries is having an important challenge ahead, that is about discovering how to incorporate or to renew the civil service activities to be, for instance, citizen-oriented, while promoting innovation and efficiency of human resources and public policies in the public sector”, – said Andrei Chistol, State Secretary, Ministry of Culture. 

On 28 October, the delegation members attended a session on strategic communication with the representatives of NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence in Riga, where were presented and discussed the results of the Center of Excellence research on the most pressing challenges for the Republic of Moldova. 

Also, the State Secretaries from Republic of Moldova have met with the State Secretary from the ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia. During the meeting they discussed about bilateral relations between the Republic of Moldova and Latvia, the current and potential partnerships, Latvia’s experience in EU integration, some impressions and results of this study visit. 
 
“In my opinion, this study visit would have double benefits. On the one hand, we have learned from the Baltic countries’ experience on central public administration, given the fact we are at the beginning of implementing certain reforms and vast structural optimization and this “on the spot” visit was very useful. On the other hand, we can consider it a work visit where we managed to discuss certain subjects related to the functional activity of the institutions we have visited, an exchange of experience, opinions, contacts took place, and not less important we participated in a series of interesting meetings that would bring added value in the future”, – noted Angela Susanu, State Secretary, Ministry of Economy. 
 
By the end of the event, the delegation participated to a presentation related to human resources management in public administration in Latvia in terms of changing implementation mechanisms over the years based on the acquired experience and practices, new challenges, methods to overcome them, lessons learned in the implementation of certain reforms, transform weaknesses into strengths in terms of gained experience.
 
This study visit was organized by Twinning project team and the project partners  – the representatives of the Government Office of Lithuania, Civil Service Department, European Social Fund Agency, Central Public Administration Reform Division of the State Chancellery of the Republic of Moldova and with the support of the State Chancellery of Latvia.