The BIS-IMF symposium took place on February 8-9, 2018 in Basel, Switzerland. At the symposium, representatives of training institutions, technical assistance providers and other global stakeholders discussed the main capacity building challenges in financial sector regulation and supervision. Namely international standards can only work if they translate into effective domestic regulation and supervision. Agenda included discussions on standard-setting bodies’ work programmes and implications for capacity building at regulatory and supervisory agencies; key capacity building needs and priorities of financial sector regulators and supervisors; the role of technology in capacity building; overview of the main training and technical assistance initiatives around the world; and enhanced coordination and cooperation among training and technical assistance providers.

Jana Repanšek spoke at the session on “Enhancing coordination and cooperation among training and technical assistance providers” as CEF closely cooperates with the IMF technical assistance advisors in addressing our member countries’ capacity development priorities. CEF currently hosts two IMF Fiscal Affairs Department technical assistance advisors, covering public financial management and revenue administration, and the IMF Statistics Department technical assistance advisor covering government finance statistics. IMF technical assistance missions help pinpoint needs for learning and knowledge sharing among practitioners. The CEF then designs workshops that address these needs, bringing together peer institutions and experts from the region and beyond. Many of the courses are delivered by the IMF advisors, who contribute content that is strongly informed by their missions. This cooperation promotes sustainable capacity development in our member countries.