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Article: West Bend helps industrial park blossom in Pazardjik.(FYI)
- Article from:
- Public Management
- Article date:
- June 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 International City-County Management Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The transition from a centrally planned and controlled economy has proven to be one of the most challenging obstacles facing many Eastern European cities entering the 21st century. Nowhere has this been more evident than in Pazardjik, Bulgaria, where, in 2000, the city was wracked with an unemployment rate of 24 percent. This not only caused economic distress but also limited the city's ability to provide services to citizens, because tax revenue had become scarce.
Eager to prompt economic development, Mayor Kolchakov and the Pazardjik City Council decided to act by applying to take part in ICMA's CityLinks Program, sponsored and funded by the United States ...