For three consecutive years now, ICMA has effectively led the World Bank-funded Municipal Finance Training Certification Program for East Asian municipal officials. Forty-five officials from Mongolia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines virtually attended the five-day program through an interactive videoconferencing system provided by the World Bank’s Global Development Learning Network to gain a better understanding of bond financing.

ICMA’s Director of Afghanistan Programs, Sandra Tripp-Jones, moderated the sessions, which were taught by Jesus Nava, Chief Administrative Officer for the Santa Clara Valley Water District in San Jose, California; Robert Samario, Finance Director in Santa Barbara, California; Robert Pierson, Chief Financial Officer in Santa Barbara; and Chu Thai, Administrative Services Director in Stanton, California. The five topic areas the presenters covered were:

1. Budgeting for Improved Performance
2. Planning and Budgeting for Capital Improvements
3. Accounting and Reporting
4. Revenue Generation
5. Creditworthiness and Debt Financing.

Participants used ICMA’s Knowledge Network (KN) to view all assigned readings for the five modules and to interact in ICMA’s Municipal Finance Training Certification group. A new KN group for past participants in East Asia Municipal Finance Training Certification will be created soon, allowing “alumni” to continue sharing resources and ideas with one another. The Knowledge Network allows individuals from all parts of the world to access posted documents and communicate with professionals with similar interests.

According to the course evaluations, most participants found the program quite useful. One participant remarked, “The topics are very important as our city is planning on issuing bonds and we need methodological knowledge regarding bond issuing. This is the first time we have ever issued bonds and we have no previous experience in the field. Examples of cities that issued bonds were really helpful.” Forty-two of the participants achieved a passing grade and will receive certificates of completion.

For additional information about ICMA’s international activities, visit the ICMA International website and the International Development topic area in the Knowledge Network, or contact international@icma.org.