Aruba receives 15.3 million euros from the European Union

The European Commission is responsible for making decisions on funds allocated to countries that are members of the Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA). Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes, as the new President of the OCTA, spoke on behalf of the 13 member states during a meeting with the European Commissioner. She expressed the wishes of each member country. Agreement has been reached on a financial arrangement for the coming year amounting to 15 million euros, to be equally distributed among the 13 countries, amounting to 1.15 million euros per country. Soon, the government will decide where to invest this fund.

On Thursday, February 29, Minister Geoffrey Wever, as Territorial Authorizing Officer for Aruba, had the honor of signing the financial agreement for the government's digitization program "Roadmap to e-Government." The e-Government project has been in preparation with the support of FUTURA and an innovation team, which has already presented the plan to the European Union. The European Union has approved the project and awarded the government a sum of 14.2 million euros to complete the e-Government project. The fund will be made available in tranches, depending on the implementation plan that the government still needs to submit. Upon completion of parts of the project, the government will receive the tranche for the next project.

E-Government will facilitate service provision between government departments, but will also make services for the public more efficient and easy. The government is assessing which departments need digitization and which services have priority. Once the plan is approved, it will transparently inform the community how it will invest the 14.2 million euros. The e-Government project will begin in 2024 for four years.

The government is pleased to have received funds from the European Union to significantly improve public service.