The Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA), under the Financial Management Hub, conducted a workshop on maximizing local authorities' revenues, with the aim of exploring the mechanisms for enhancing local authorities' revenues and presenting local authorities with the best practices in this regard, with the participation of 39 financial managers from local authorities.
During his opening speech, Manager of the Technical and Legal Support Unit, Eng. Abdel Mo'men Afanah, presented the main programs and projects currently implemented by APLA, in addition to the activities to be implemented during the upcoming months for the members of the financial managers Hub. He clarified that the activities will be developed in consultation with the hub members and based on their priorities. Furthermore, he pointed out the importance of orienting local authorities to local economic development projects in partnership with the private sector in order to maximize their revenues.
During his interventions, Dean of the Faculty of Economy at An-Najah National University, Dr. Baker Ishtayeh gave a presentation on the economic principle for maximizing public revenues and goods in the market system. In addition, he discussed maximizing financial resources of local authorities, addressing financial resources in relation to the Palestinian market, functions and powers of local councils in collecting and providing financial resources, providing the local authorities financial statistics and mechanisms for mitigating local councils' costs and designing strategies for maximizing revenues.
The coordinator of the Financial Management Hub, Rifa'at Al-Quneibi, Financial Manager – Hebron Municipality, concluded the workshop with a presentation on the best local practices in maximizing revenues, illustrating the role of financial departments and the basic needs for maximizing revenues, as well as an introduction to financial reform with local authorities.
It is worth mentioning that this training is conducted under the Technical Hubs project for exchanging experiences between local authorities, implemented in partnership between APLA and LGRP-GIZ. It comprises of five Hubs: Engineering and Planning Hub, Public Relations Hub, Financial Management Hub, Village Councils Hub, and Innovation and Creativity Hub.
