SG Speech: EU Technical Coop
SG Speech: EU Technical Coop
24 Sep 2006 23:41:45
STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL & REGIONAL AUTHORISING OFFICER, PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM SECRETARIAT
TECHNICAL COOPERATION FACILITY SIGNING CEREMONY
SIGNING CEREMONY
Forum Secretariat, Suva, Fiji Islands
25 October 2006
Your Excellencies,
Heads of Regional Organisations
Members of the Press
Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat I would like to warmly welcome you all to the Secretariat this afternoon. I would like to extend a special welcome to representatives of the United Kingdom and France and in particular to the Director, Development Cooperation office in Brussels, Mr Gary Quince, who is no stranger to the Pacific region, having spent some time at the EC Delegation in Suva and also in Kiribati.
2. Today, we mark yet another important occasion in our long and successful partnership with the European Union with the signing of the Financing Agreement and Contribution Agreement for a Technical Cooperation Facility project, with a budget of ¬1.2 million, to be implemented by the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, over a period of 4 years.
3. With the approval of this project, we now have a total of about 20 active projects under the portfolio of the RAO, worth a total of about ¬70 million (FJD154 million). This amount is set to double, in the coming months, when the 10th EDF programmes come on stream. With the increase in our membership under the Cotonou Agreement and the possible involvement of Timor Leste in the 10th EDF programme, the cost of doing business is increasing. It's important that we bear this in mind and not over stretch our resources, in order to ensure that the programmes are efficiently implemented and achieve good results.
4. The Technical Cooperation Facility project is, then a welcomed intervention. It will assist in the efficient and effective implementation of the national and regional indicative programmes financed from the EDF. It will facilitate the quick mobilisation of resources for short term interventions, such as consultancies, training and regional meetings, that under normal circumstances might be difficult, in the context of other EDF requirements.
5. The Technical Cooperation Facility project is also a very timely intervention in terms of the 10th EDF programming process. The project will greatly assist the work of the CROP Working Groups tasked with the responsibility of developing the 10th EDF programmes, and in developing regional and country strategy papers.
6. The Regional Indicative Programme has, I think it fair to claim, been efficiently managed over the past few years. The mid-term review of the 9th EDF resulted in an additional ¬10 million being allocated to the region. This was the outcome of the increasingly effective network of regional institutions and system of cooperation developed among the CROP organisations working together for regional benefit. We are now looking at ways of making that cooperation even more efficient. In this context, I would also commend the work of the TA Support to the RAO' project in ensuring the smooth implementation of the regional programme.
7. The Forum Secretariat implements similar projects to the Technical Corporation Facility project with our other development partners. The experience we have thereby gained should result in a shorter start-up phase and assist us in producing early results. Our processes and procedures to access funding and assessing requests have also been standardised. The TCF project will benefit from this.
8. Our region is in a period of transition. Developments at global and regional levels are placing new and increasing pressures on our governments and societies. So we are looking again at the way we do a range of things in order to respond to these challenges. The concept of regionalism in the Pacific Plan provides a framework for closer integration and cooperation that is very, very important in our current environment. Recent EU policy statements also provide us with a new, more vigorous opportunity to enter into a new, more vigorous partnership. It is an opportunity we must seize and today sees one of those welcome steps which will enable us to do so.
Thank you.
24 Sep 2006 23:41:45
STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL & REGIONAL AUTHORISING OFFICER, PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM SECRETARIAT
TECHNICAL COOPERATION FACILITY SIGNING CEREMONY
SIGNING CEREMONY
Forum Secretariat, Suva, Fiji Islands
25 October 2006
Your Excellencies,
Heads of Regional Organisations
Members of the Press
Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat I would like to warmly welcome you all to the Secretariat this afternoon. I would like to extend a special welcome to representatives of the United Kingdom and France and in particular to the Director, Development Cooperation office in Brussels, Mr Gary Quince, who is no stranger to the Pacific region, having spent some time at the EC Delegation in Suva and also in Kiribati.
2. Today, we mark yet another important occasion in our long and successful partnership with the European Union with the signing of the Financing Agreement and Contribution Agreement for a Technical Cooperation Facility project, with a budget of ¬1.2 million, to be implemented by the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, over a period of 4 years.
3. With the approval of this project, we now have a total of about 20 active projects under the portfolio of the RAO, worth a total of about ¬70 million (FJD154 million). This amount is set to double, in the coming months, when the 10th EDF programmes come on stream. With the increase in our membership under the Cotonou Agreement and the possible involvement of Timor Leste in the 10th EDF programme, the cost of doing business is increasing. It's important that we bear this in mind and not over stretch our resources, in order to ensure that the programmes are efficiently implemented and achieve good results.
4. The Technical Cooperation Facility project is, then a welcomed intervention. It will assist in the efficient and effective implementation of the national and regional indicative programmes financed from the EDF. It will facilitate the quick mobilisation of resources for short term interventions, such as consultancies, training and regional meetings, that under normal circumstances might be difficult, in the context of other EDF requirements.
5. The Technical Cooperation Facility project is also a very timely intervention in terms of the 10th EDF programming process. The project will greatly assist the work of the CROP Working Groups tasked with the responsibility of developing the 10th EDF programmes, and in developing regional and country strategy papers.
6. The Regional Indicative Programme has, I think it fair to claim, been efficiently managed over the past few years. The mid-term review of the 9th EDF resulted in an additional ¬10 million being allocated to the region. This was the outcome of the increasingly effective network of regional institutions and system of cooperation developed among the CROP organisations working together for regional benefit. We are now looking at ways of making that cooperation even more efficient. In this context, I would also commend the work of the TA Support to the RAO' project in ensuring the smooth implementation of the regional programme.
7. The Forum Secretariat implements similar projects to the Technical Corporation Facility project with our other development partners. The experience we have thereby gained should result in a shorter start-up phase and assist us in producing early results. Our processes and procedures to access funding and assessing requests have also been standardised. The TCF project will benefit from this.
8. Our region is in a period of transition. Developments at global and regional levels are placing new and increasing pressures on our governments and societies. So we are looking again at the way we do a range of things in order to respond to these challenges. The concept of regionalism in the Pacific Plan provides a framework for closer integration and cooperation that is very, very important in our current environment. Recent EU policy statements also provide us with a new, more vigorous opportunity to enter into a new, more vigorous partnership. It is an opportunity we must seize and today sees one of those welcome steps which will enable us to do so.
Thank you.
