ICMA and the World Bank will confer certificates of excellence on 105 officials from five Southeast Asian nations following their successful completion of an intensive course in municipal finance. ICMA delivered the course using the World Bank’s Global Development Learning Network Asia Pacific (GDLN), which can connect multiple locations for interactive two-way video training. 

Four ICMA presenters conducted the course from the World Bank facility in Washington, D.C., from 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM on five consecutive nights to accommodate the time differences for participants, who were based in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and at three sites in Vietnam (Danang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi). The League of Cities of the Philippines cosponsored the training at the Filipino site.

All course materials were translated into Vietnamese in advance, and the live presentations were translated simultaneously at the remote sites. The modules covered the following topics: 

• The operating budget
• Capital planning and budgeting
• Revenue generation
• Accounting and reporting
• Creditworthiness and debt financing.

The course was coordinated by Sandra Tripp-Jones, Senior Governance Advisor with ICMA International and former city administrator in Santa Barbara, California, who also presented the module on revenue generation. Other presenters were Jesus Nava, Finance Director, Burlingame, California; Robert Samario, Finance Director, Santa Barbara, California; and Robert Pierson, Chief Financial Officer, Santa Barbara Housing Authority.

To encourage information exchange among participants, ICMA established a closed group in the Knowledge Network, and 85 individuals joined it. Among their comments:

From an internal auditor in Bangkok: “I really enjoyed this course. It was a great opportunity to share knowledge and experience among participants that will be useful to adapt in their own local government. . . . I hope we will have more opportunities to join in other interesting sessions soon.”

From an acting city treasurer in the Philippines: “I really enjoyed all the topics being discussed. I hope to learn more from the experts as this will serve as our basis of recommendations to our local government units.”

The ICMA training is one component of a strategy developed by the World Bank in partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The two organizations have established an Infrastructure Finance Network that provides a regional platform for government and private-sector leaders to explore innovative approaches to infrastructure financing that can facilitate the flow of private capital into infrastructure development.

To learn more about ICMA's international programs, visit the ICMA International section of the ICMA website and the International Development topic area of the Knowledge Network, or e-mail international@icma.org.