Featuring Successful Partnership with De Nederlandsche Bank
For years De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has been an important partner in supporting the delivery of our learning and knowledge sharing initiatives in the area of central banking. At the heart of this cooperation has been a complementary goal of working towards a long-term impact in supporting reform efforts in central banking in South East Europe. We were happy to talk to Carel van den Berg, Coordinator of International Technical Cooperation, at the DNB about how together we can work better, and make a bigger impact.
Looking at the activities of the DNB, it is easy to draw parallels with the CEF: research, innovation, sharing ideas and knowledge is a strong focus of your institution. Why is it important to have it as part of the bank’s portfolio and how do you nurture this culture among the employees?
The challenging environment of the last decade (the Great Financial Crisis and now Corona) has underlined the importance of well-founded decision-making by central banks and supervisory authorities, using best practices and state-of-the-art knowledge against the background of increased international cooperation. The DNB aims to offer high-quality training to training participants and expose them to best practices and new developments, promoting central banks as places for staff to do research, enjoy a stimulating environment, and give and receive inputs by meeting colleagues and peers in an international environment. The CEF is a very good place to bring this into practice.
The DNB has been cooperating with the CEF since 2011 when you became a member of the CEF’s Advisory Board. During this period, there might have been some funny/peculiar/interesting stories or events that perhaps stand out in your memory. Would you be willing to share one or two with us?
The first thing that comes to my mind is the enormous drive of Mira (ed. Mira Dobovišek, former Director of CEF) and Jana (ed. Jana Repanšek, Director of CEF). It is impressive and contagious. And certainly also discussions with and between the Ministries of Finance. (Are they different creatures – no!)
The DNB has provided expertise at several CEF courses on central banking. Where and how could the CEF contribute to the capacity development of central banks in South East Europe in the future?
I think that the newly hired staff of central banks (anywhere in the world) is increasingly better educated than before. So, the CEF’s topics should be forward-looking. For instance, we are happy to contribute to the issue of sustainability. The CEF has established a unique environment for bringing countries together – not only on the participant side but also on the teaching side. Developing improved digital teaching could also be a potential core competence for the CEF, for example designing courses and webinars that could be accessible later too.