YAOUNDE, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said on Monday that his government is committed to ensuring the smooth implementation of the country's decentralization policy in its endeavor to promote citizens' participation in local governance and development.

Since the adoption of the country's new constitution last year, the Central African nation has established a legal and institutional framework particularly related to decentralization, Mahamat Deby said while opening a five-day seminar on decentralization.

"This decentralization ... is not a simple administrative reform. It is the concrete expression of the will of the people expressed during the constitutional referendum," Mahamat Deby said during the seminar in the capital, N'Djamena.

"This reform is a first in the history of our country. It embodies our commitment to building a Chad where decisions are made as closely as possible to local realities, where resources are managed with complete transparency and fairness, and where each autonomous community can develop its own potential," he added.

He urged all stakeholders to successfully implement the reform, grasp its benefits, and correct its shortcomings.

According to a statement released by the presidency of the country, the seminar will draw a national roadmap for the implementation of the decentralization program. ■