US GOVT, BJELOVAR SIGN MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

BJELOVAR, Nov 28 (Hina) - US Ambassador Lawrence Rossin, US Agency for International Development (USAID) director Pamela Lane Baldwin, and the mayor of the northern town of Bjelovar, Djurdja Adlesic, on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding, which is aimed at promoting the competitiveness of Bjelovar's economy and improving the work of local self-government. Ambassador Rossin said the agreement was a solid foundation for the continuation of cooperation between the US Government, through the USAID, and the town of Bjelovar. Promoting competitiveness is a difficult job which requires new ways of thinking and doing business as well as the way municipal authorities behave towards potential partners, he said. The USA supports the decentralisation of authority in Croatia and the signing of the agreement is not a political but an economic issue, Rossin said. Bjelovar mayor Adlesic said the programme that would facilitate competitiveness of Bjelovar's economy and improve the work of the local administration and self-government was a present of the US government. Thanking the US Ambassador, Adlesic said the signing of the memorandum was the crown of the cooperation between the town and the US government and expressed hope it would soon result in foreign investments. Ambassador Rossin today participated in the fifth workshop within the Croatian Competitiveness Initiative, which is being implemented by the USAID. (hina) sb rml