The PM said the project was aimed at rendering the public administration more efficient, professional and transparent.
The establishment of this centre is an important step forward in the adjustment of the Croatian state administration to EU standards and in the implementation of the government's programme aimed at the reform of the state administration, he added.
Pointing to the public administration reform as one of the most important tasks of his cabinet, Sanader said that after his coming into office, the number of ministries was cut from 19 to 13 and the number of ministers from 24 to 14.
He thanked institutions and member-states of the European Union for cooperation with Croatia in this field, and added that Zagreb was completing negotiations with the Danish government on assistance of two million euros for the development of the newly-opened centre.
Speaking about the further introduction of state-of-the-art technologies in this sector, the State Secretary of the Central State Office for Administration, Antun Palaric, said it was necessary to provide permanent training for more than 50,000 civil servants.
Palaric thanked the European Commission for donations from CARDS programmes for this purpose.
A representative of the Delegation of the European Commission to Croatia, Longares Barrio, said that the Commission would continue helping Croatia on its path towards the EU. He said that the EC would continue monitoring legislation pertaining to public administration and civil servants, notably their employment and training.
Funds from the CARDS programmes for 2001 were used to finance the reform of the state administration, and 40 lecturers underwent training to educate civil servants, Barrio said.