Contacts: Washington - Erik Nora (202) 458-4735 enora@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, January 26, 2005--On January 25, 2005, the World Bank’s Executive Directors confirmed their support for a Social and Institutional Development and Economic Management Technical Assistance Program (SIDEM) for eligible members of the European Union (EU) with an aggregate lending limit up to US$100 million. The objective of SIDEM is to promote social and institutional development and economic management in EU member countries which are eligible to borrow from the World Bank. “The World Bank is pleased to launch this technical assistance framework program to respond to requests from the new members of the European Union to help strengthen both institutions and the capacity to formulate and implement the social and economic policies that these countries will need for successful convergence,” said Roger Grawe, the World Bank Country Director for Central Europe and the Baltic States.
Examples of activities that could be financed through loans under SIDEM include the following: Support for the formulation of National Development Plans outlining the countries’ medium- to long-term national, regional and sectoral development strategies as well as operationalizing the framework for EU financial support.
Creation of knowledge-based economies, including informatics and innovation systems.
Reform of judicial systems
Modernization of health and education sectors
Effective utilization of EU assistance by developing viable projects for EU funding, and also mobilize the necessary cofinancing.
The first constituent loan under SIDEM, approved by the World Bank’s Board of Directors on January 25, 2005, is for a Human Capital Technical Assistance Project for the Slovak Republic in the amount of Euro 5 million. The main development objective of the HCTA program is to assist the Slovak Government in developing a capacity for evidence-based policy formulation in the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family, and in the Ministry of Education to improve social cohesion and education outcomes throughout Slovak society. For more information on the World Bank’s work in the Baltic, please visit: www.worldbank.org/eca -- | 
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