Economic Research
The mission of the Economic Research Center (ERC) is to provide technical and economic support to the Ministry and the Minister. The Center conducts various research and policy-oriented projects, monitors and compiles data, and acts as an economic think tank for the ministry and its numerous projects.
In addition to the compilation of the 1997-2002 national accounts (link to the accounts page) series, the Center provides support to the SME unit, the Wheat and Sugar Beet directorate, the EU-funded Quality and E-Commerce Projects, and plays a pivotal role in all trade negotiations and all EU-related affairs including the new Wider Europe Initiative. Moreover, competition policy, IMF and World Bank missions, and the relationship within the private sector are within the scope of the ERC, which also serves as a focal point for several intra-ministerial projects and committees such as the Central Bank GDDS project.
The ERC plans to develop its own capacity and ultimately engage members of the academia and other think tanks in order to strengthen the public-private partnership in the field of economic research and modeling.