Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF)

Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF) is international organization with the mission to support capacity development for finance officials in South East Europe through learning. They work with our constituency to support their public financial management, tax policy and administration, and central banking reform efforts. They do this through innovative, participatory, and practical learning solutions. The CEF serves as a knowledge hub for the region. They combine topical expertise and in-depth knowledge of countries in the region with a good comprehension of how reforms take place. Their staff knows how to nourish and expedite learning among individuals and institutions. They were established in 2001 under the Stability Pact for South East Europe by the Slovenian Government at the initiative of the Slovenian Ministry of Finance and in close cooperation with other ministries of finance of former Yugoslav countries and Albania. In 2015 the CEF became an international organization after 14 very successful years as a regional institution. The change of status facilitates the hiring of international staff and enhances cooperation with our partner institutions. They are one of the official channels for implementing Slovenia’s international development cooperation and they are stepping our efforts in supporting our constituent countries in domestic resource mobilization as a key means of implementation for attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the light of implementation of SDGs our learning initiatives from the thematic areas of Tax Policy and Administration, Public Financial Management, Central Banking and Leadership contribute to realization of SDG Number 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. CEF is on the List of Official Development Assistance Eligible International Organizations of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). At its session on June 21-22, 2017, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee Working Party on Development Finance Statistics adopted the proposed changes to Annex 2: List of OECD Official Development Assistance (ODA) Eligible International Organizations. The Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiated the inclusion of the CEF in list of ODA eligible international organizations and successfully justified the application. The CEF’s entry to this list is another proof of the Center’s and Slovenian Foreign Ministry’s commitment to the capacity development of our constituency.