This week, on December 9 and 10, the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (CFCA), fulfilling the responsibilities of a Development Cooperation Agency, participated in the annual meeting of the Baltic States’ development cooperation institutions, including Ministries of Foreign Affairs and agencies. These annual trilateral forums are significant events for exchanging experiences and adopting best practices, helping to coordinate the development cooperation policies and strategies of the Baltic States.
The main theme of this year's meeting was support measures for Ukraine’s reconstruction. All three Baltic States are providing financial assistance to restore Ukraine's public infrastructure – for instance, Latvia is supporting the reconstruction of medical and educational infrastructure in the Chernihiv region. Simultaneously, the Baltic States’ agencies are actively attracting external donor funding, including from the European Commission, for projects supporting Ukraine, particularly to share the Baltic States’ experience in European Union integration.
During the meeting, the Baltic States’ agencies also discussed planned and potential collaborative projects, with a particular focus on digitalization efforts in various regions of the world. For example, CFCA plans to sign an agreement with the European Commission this year to implement a project supporting digitalization in Central Asia, leveraging funding from the European Commission. This project will also involve Lithuania's Central Project Management Agency (CPMA) and Estonia's e-Governance Academy (eGA).
In the field of development cooperation, the Baltic States’ agencies have made significant progress in securing external funding for experience-sharing projects in various African regions. For example, Estonia is currently most active in Kenya, Lithuania in Angola, while Latvia is focusing on the East Africa region, developing potential future project ideas to attract European Union funding.
On January 25, 2024, the Baltic States’ development cooperation agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Riga to strengthen collaboration and experience sharing in development cooperation. The goal is to enhance the involvement of Baltic States and their experts in international projects outside the European Union. Among the three Baltic States’ agencies, CFCA is the second to achieve accreditation from the European Commission, allowing it to directly manage grant programs and projects delegated by the European Commission.
