Ministry of Telecommunications to obtain 409m RSD from budget

The Minister of Telecommunications of Serbia, Jasna Matić, said that that ministry had obtained 409m RSD from the budget for year 2010, a bit more than the year before.

- In the conditions of the economic crisis, we are satisfied with the budget and it will make it possible for us to implement top-priority projects - Ms. Matić told Beta agency.

As she explained, the priority in 2010 is the project for connecting the academic networks of Serbia and the region (SEELIGHT), 80% of which will be financed by Greek Government, while the rest will be provided by Serbian Government.

- The value of the project is 6.5m EUR and its realization will contribute to improvement and security of functioning of the academic network that now connects all the universities and scientific institutions in Serbia - said Matić and added that the plan for year 2010 was to connect all primary and secondary schools to that network.

According to her words, it would have been good if the state had managed to provide the funds for broadband Internet access in Serbia, for which, as she explains, majority of countries in the world provided money even at the time of the recession. In her opinion, Serbia also needs more information technologies in the school system.

Ms. Matić announced that the electronic portal of the Government of Serbia would be introduced in February 2010. That is the unique window that will enable both economy and citizens to access various state-provided services in a much simpler way.

- So far, we have been talking with those who provide the services to the economy sector - the Business Registerst Agency, the Tax Administration, the National Bank of Serbia - and we are also in the late phase of the talks with the Ministry of Internal Affairs - said the Minister and added that the services may be available to the economy sector already in the first quarter of year 2010.

According to her words, by using the portal in 2010, the citizens will be able to download documents such as certificate of citizenship, certificate of birth, etc.

She also announced that the Government of Serbia would adopt the draft law on electronic communications in about ten days, which would result in liberalization of the communications sector, larger investments, better quality and lower prices of services. That law also precisely defines the rights of the users.