Busan, Nov 14, 2005 (ABN Newswire) - APEC projects designed to strengthen the infrastructure and capacity of developing areas of the regional economy were given a boost in 2005 with the Budget Management Committee (BMC) approving 85 projects worth US$5,546,859. A further US$ 2,193,000 will be available for projects later in 2006.
BMC Chair, Mr Mario I. Artaza, said the projects approved in 2005 will provide direct training in a range of sectors and increase government departments' capacity to deliver services.
"An important part of APEC's work is sharing skills, technologies and best practices between all of our members," Mr Artaza said in a briefing for regional news organizations in the lead-up to the APEC Leaders' Meeting.
Regardless of their level of economic development, all APEC Member Economies benefit from the projects implemented each year. The projects that APEC oversees throughout the year cover areas that have a direct impact on the lives of people who are seeking to adapt to challenges brought by the globalizing economy. This includes activities in support of small and medium enterprises, trade facilitation, sustainable development, infectious disease control and other human resource development initiatives.
In 2005 major projects included work on renewable energy, climate change, SMEs, conservation, business facilitation and investment including:
-- A project operated by the Human Resources Development Working Group on APEC Learning Standards for English and Other Languages
-- A project operated by the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Working Group designed to assist in the development of financial assistance programs for micro-enterprises from APEC
-- A project operated by the APEC Committee on Trade and Investment to encourage the use of Best Practices for Free Trade Agreements and Regional Trading Arrangements to assist developing economies.
Funding for APEC projects is provided through the APEC Trade Investment Liberalization Fund, operational funds provided by Member Economies and the new APEC Support Fund (ASF).
The ASF was established this year with a A$3 million grant over 3 years from Australia with the intention of supporting activities in APEC's high priority economic and technical cooperation sectors for developing member economies.
The ASF has the flexibility to provide contributions for specific activities such as counter-terrorism capacity building or the development of programs to encourage women to set up small businesses.
Individual APEC capacity building projects are approved by the BMC following directions provided by APEC Leaders, Ministers and Senior Officials.
This year new quality standards were also incorporated into the process of identifying and evaluating the value provided to the region by individual APEC projects.
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