World Bank and French Development Agency Aiding Development of Local Infrastructure in Serbia

Local self-governments should propose the best infrastructure projects as soon as possible so as to use the grants of the World Bank and the French Development Agency intended for that purpose, said the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.

– An enormous amount of money has been secured for all local self-governments, even up to 30% of some municipal budgets. Representatives of local self-governments should show that they are serious and responsible so that the money would start being used as soon as possible for projects and so that citizens would benefit from it – Vucic said at the Introductory Conference on the project of the development of local infrastructure and the institutional strengthening of local self-governments in Serbia (LIID project).

The value of the LIID project is around EUR 300 million, and 145 local self-governments will get grants for projects of rehabilitation and reconstruction of traffic infrastructure, construction of pedestrian crossings, bicycle lanes or public transport spaces, increasing the resilience of the traffic infrastructure to climate change, greening of public areas, development of systems of smart cities and sustainable urban mobility.

The deadline for the realization of the project is November 30, 2028.

The ambassador of France to Serbia, Pierre Cochard, estimated that the LIID project confirmed the dynamic cooperation of Serbia and France, and also France’s willingness to have Serbia’s accession to the European Union continue, to support economic growth and to increase the quality of life in Serbia.

According to him, participation in this program is the biggest investment of the French Development Agency in Serbia.