2. Two auditors appointed by the Committee on Industrial Cooperation shall audit the financial management of the CDI.
3. The CDI's statute, financial and staff regulations and rules of procedure shall be adopted by the Council of Ministers on a proposal from the Committee of Ambassadors after the entry into force of this Convention,
Article 94.
The Centre shall step up its operational presence in the ACP States, notably as regards identification of projects and promoters and assistance in the submission of applications for financing.
It shall do this in accordance with procedures proposed by the Executive Board, taking account of the need to decentralize activities.
Article 95.
The Commission, the Bank and the CDI shall maintain close operational cooperation in the context of their respective responsibilities.
Article 96.
Members of the Advisory Council, the Executive Board and the director and deputy director of the CDI shall be appointed for a period of no longer than five years, subject to a reservation in the case of the Executive Board that the situation be reviewed mid-term.
Article 97.
1. In implementing this Title, the Community shall pay special attention to the specific needs and problems of the least-developed, landlocked and island ACP States in order to establish the basis for their industrialization (the formulation of industrial policies and strategies, economic infrastructure and industrial training), notably with a view to adding value to raw materials and other local resources in the following fields in particular:
-- processing of raw materials,
- development, transfer and adaptation of technologies,
- development and financing of schemes in favour of small and medium-sized enterprises,
- development of industrial infrastructure and energy and mining resources,
- adequate training in the scientific and technical areas,
- production of equipment and inputs for the rural sector.
Such operations may be implemented with assistance from the CDI.
2. At the request of one or more least-developed ACP States, the CDI shall grant special assistance for identifying on-the-spot industrial promotion and development possibilities, notably in raw materials processing and the production of equipment and inputs for the rural sector.
Article 98.
In order to implement industrial cooperation, the Community shall help carry âout programmes, projects and operations submitted to it on the initiative or with the agreement of the ACP States. To this end, it shall use all the means provided in this Convention, notably those at its disposal under development finance cooperation and, in particular, those which are the responsibility of the Bank, without prejudice to operations to assist ACP States in mobilizing finance from other sources.
Industrial cooperation programmes, projects and operations which involve Community financing shall be implemented in conformity with Title II, Part Three of this Convention, having regard to the particular characteristics of aid operations in the industrial sector.
Title VI. MINING DEVELOPMENT
Article 99.
The main objectives of mining development shall be to:
- exploit all types of mineral resources in a way which ensures the profitability of mining operations in both export and local markets, while also meeting environmental concerns, and
- enhance the potential of human resources, with a view to promoting and expediting diversified economic and social development.
The Contracting Parties stress their mutual dependence in the sector and agree to use in a coordinated fashion this Convention's various instruments in this field and also other Community instruments where appropriate.
Article 100.
At. the request of one or more ACP States, the Community shall carry out technical assistance or training activities to strengthen their scientific and technical capacity in the field of geology and mining in order that they may derive greater benefit from available know-how and direct their exploration and prospecting programmes accordingly.
Article 101.
In order to facilitate the development of the mining resources of the ACP States concerned, having regard to national and external economic considerations and with a view to diversification, the Community shall cooperate as appropriate, through its technical and financial assistance programmes, with the ACP States in their prospecting and exploration efforts at all stages, both onshore and on the continental shelf as defined in international law.
Where appropriate, the Community shall also give its technical and financial assistance to the establishment of national or regional exploration funds in ACP States.
Article 102.
With the aim of supporting efforts to exploit the ACP States' mining resources, the Community shall contribute towards the support of projects to rehabilitate, maintain, rationalize and modernize economically viable production units in order to make them more operational and more competitive.
It shall also contribute to the identification, drawing up and implementation of new viable projects to an extent compatible with investment and management capacities as well as market trends, taking particular account of the financing of feasibility and pre-investment studies.
Particular attention shall be accorded to:
- operations to enhance the role of small and medium-scale projects, so promoting local mining enterprises with particular emphasis on minerals for industry and agriculture, destined notably for the domestic or regional markets, and also new products, and
- operations to protect the environment.
Cooperation shall also support the efforts of the ACP States to: .
- build up supporting infrastructure;
- take measures to ensure that mining development makes the greatest possible contribution to the producer countries' social and economic development, such measures including the optimal use of mining revenue and the integration of mining development into industrial development and into an appropriate policy of land-use planning;
- encourage European and ACP investment;
- promote regional cooperation.
Article 103.
In order to contribute to the objectives set out above, the Community shall be prepared to give its technical and financial assistance to help with the exploitation of the ACP Statesâ mining potential in accordance with the procedures peculiar to each of the instruments at its disposal and according to the provisions of this Convention.
In the sphere of research and investment preparatory to the launching of mining projects, the Community may give assistance in the form of risk capital, possibly in conjunction with contributions of capital from the ACP States concerned and other sources of financing, in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 234.
The resources referred to in these provisions may be supplemented, for projects of mutual interest, by:
(a) other Community financial and technical resources;
(b) actibn aimed at the mobilization of public and private capital, including cofinancing.
Article 104.
The Bank may, in accordance with its Statute, commit its own resources on a case-by-case basis beyond the amount fixed in the Financial Protocol in mining investment projects recognized by the ACP State concerned and by the Community as being of mutual interest.
Title VII. ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
Article 105.
In view of the seriousness of the energy situation in the majority of the ACP States, owing partly to the crisis caused in many countries by dependence on imported petroleum, products and the increasing scarcity of fuelwood, and in view of the effects the use of fossil fuels have on the climate, the ACP States and the Community agree-to cooperate in this area with a view to finding solutions to their energy problems.
In ACP-EEC cooperation particular emphasis shall be placed on energy programming, operations for saving and making efficient use of energy, reconnaissance of energy potential and the economically and technically appropriate promotion of new and renewable sources of energy.
Article 106.
The Community and the ACP States recognize the mutual benefits of cooperation in the field of energy. Such cooperation shall promote the development of the ACP States' conventional and non-conventional energy potential and their self-sufficiency.
The main objectives of energy development shall be to:
(a) promote economic and social development by exploiting and developing domestic and regional energy resources in an appropriate manner from the technical, economic and environmental viewpoints;
(b) make energy production and use more efficient and, where the potential exists, increase energy self-sufficiency;
(c) encourage increased use of alternative, new and renewable energy sources;
(d) improve living conditions in urban, outlying and rural areas and propose solutions to these areas' energy problems that are appropriate to local needs and resources;
(e) protect the natural environment by conserving biomass resources, particularly fuelwood, by encouraging alternative solutions, improving consumption techniques and habits, and using energy and energy resources in a rational and sustainable manner.
Article 107.
In order to attain the abovementioned objectives, energy cooperation schemes may, at the request of one or more of the ACP States concerned, be focused on:
(a) collection, analysis and dissemination of relevant information;
(b) strengthening the ACP States management and control of their energy resources in line with their development objectives in order to enable them to appraise energy demand and supply options and to achieve strategic energy planning, inter alia by supporting energy programming and providing technical assistance for departments responsible for the planning and execution of energy policies;
(c) analysing the energy implications of development projects and programming, taking account of the energy savings required and of opportunities for primary source substitution; in this context, operations shall be designed to increase the role played by new and renewable resources, particularly in rural areas, through programmes and projects tailored to local needs and resources;
(d) implementing suitable programmes involving small and medium-sized energy development projects, particularly those aimed at saving and providing alternatives for fuelwood; in this context, operations shall be designed to resolve as swiftly as possible the problems caused by overconsumption of fuelwood by making domestic energy use more efficient in both rural and urban areas, encouraging the use of alternative sources for domestic use, particularly in urban areas, and developing plantations of suitable fuelwood species;
(e) enhancing investment potential for the exploration and development of domestic and regional energy sources as well as for the development of sites of exceptional energy production permitting the establishment of energy-intensive industry;
(f) promoting research, adaptation and dissemination of appropriate technology as well as the training needed to meet energy-related manpower needs in the energy sector;
(g) stepping up the ACP States' research and development activities, particularly as regards the development of new and renewable sources of energy;
(h) upgrading the basic infrastructure necessary for the production, transmission, transport and distribution of energy with particular emphasis on rural electrification;
(i) encouraging cooperation between ACP States in the energy sector, notably the extension of electricity distribution grids between ACP countries and cooperation between those States and other neighbouring States receiving Community aid.
Article 108.
In order to contribute to the objectives set out above, the Community shall be prepared to give its technical and financial assistance to help with the exploitation of the ACP States' energy potential in accordance with the procedures peculiar to each of the instruments at its disposal and according to the provisions of this Convention.
In the sphere of research and investment preparatory to the launching of energy projects, the Community may give assistance in the form of risk capital, possibly in conjunction with contributions of capital from the ACP States concerned and other sources of financing, in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 234.
The resources referred to in these provisions may be supplemented, for projects of mutual interest, by:
(a) other Community financial and technical resources;
(b) action aimed at the mobilization of public and private capital, including cofinancing.
Article 109.
The Bank may, in accordance with its Statute, commit its own resources on a case-by-case basis beyond the amount fixed in the Financial Protocol in energy investment projects recognized by the ACP State concerned and by the Community as being of mutual interest.
Title VIII. ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
Article 110.
The Community and the ACP States stress that:
(i) enterprises constitute one of the main instruments for achieving the objectives of strengthening the economic fabric, encouraging inter-sectoral integration and increasing employment, incomes and the level of skills;
(ii) present ACP efforts to restructure their economies should be complemented by efforts to strengthen and enlarge their productive base. The enterprise sector should play an important part in the ACP States' strategies to revive growth;
(iii) a stable and propitious environment should be created together with an effective domestic financial sector with a view to reinvigorating the enterprise sector in the ACP States and to encouraging European investment;
(iv) the private sector needs to be made more dynamic and play a greater role, in particular through small and medium-sized enterprises, which are better suited to conditions prevailing in the ACP economies. Micro-firms and crafts should equally be encouraged and supported;
(v) private foreign investors complying with the objectives and priorities of ACP-EEC development cooperation should be encouraged to participate in the development efforts of the ACP States. Fair and equitable treatment should be accorded to such investment as well as a propitious, secure and predictable investment climate;
(vi) the fostering of ACP entrepreneurship is crucial for unlocking the considerable potential of the ACP States.
2. Efforts should be made to channel an increased proportion of the Conventionâs financial resources both to the encouragement of entrepreneurship and investment and towards directly productive activities.
Article 111.
In pursuit of the abovementioned objectives, the Contracting Parties recognize the need to utilize the full range of instruments provided for by this Convention, including technical assistance, in the following areas with a view to sustaining private sector development:
(a) support for the improvement of the legal and fiscal framework for business, and development of a greater role for professional organizations and chambers of commerce in the process of enterprise development;
(b) direct assistance for the creation and the development of business (specialized business start-up services; assistance for the redeployment of ex-public sector employees; assistance for technology transfers and development; management services and market research);
(c) the development of services in support of the enterprise sector so as to provide enterprises with advisory services in the legal, technical and managerial fields;
(d) specific programmes for training and developing the capacity of individual entrepreneurs, particularly in the small-scale and informal sectors.
Article 112.
In order to support the development of the savings and domestic financial sectors, the following areas of action merit special attention:
(a) assistance for the mobilization of domestic savings and the development of financial intermediaries;
(b) technical assistance for the restructuring and reform of financial institutions.
Article 113.
With a view to assisting enterprise development in ACP States, the Community shall provide technical and financial assistance, subject to the conditions laid down in the development finance cooperation Title.
Title IX. DEVELOPMENT OF SERVICES
Chapter 1. Objectives and Principles of Cooperation
Article 114.
1. The Community and the ACP States recognize the importance of services in the formulation of development policies and the need to step up cooperation in this sphere.
2. The Community shall support the ACP States' efforts to increase their domestic capacity to provide services with a view to improving the working of their economies, relieving balance of payment constraints and stimulating the process of regional integration.
3. The object is to ensure that the ACP States derive maximum benefit from the provisions of this Convention, at national and regional level, and to enable. them to:
- participate under the most favourable conditions in Community, domestic, regional and international markets by diversifying the range and increasing the value and volume of ACP States' trade in goods and services,
- increase their collective capacity by means of greater economic integration and consolidation of functional cooperation or cooperation on specific themes,
- stimulate enterprise development, notably by encouraging ACP-EEC investment in services, with a view to creating employment, generating and distributing revenue and facilitating the transfer and adaptation of technology to specific ACP needs,
- derive maximum benefit from national or regional tourism and improve their participation in world tourism,
- set up the transport and communications networks and informatics and telematics systems needed for their development,
- step up vocational training activities and transfer of know-how in view of the determining role of human resources in the development of services.
4. In pursuit of these aims, the Contracting Parties shall have recourse, in addition to the specific provisions on services, to those on trade, trade promotion, industrial development, investment and education and training.
Article 115.
1. In view of the wide range of services and their unequal contribution to development, and with a view to maximizing the impact of Community aid on the development of ACP States, the two Parties agree to pay particular attention to services necessary for their economies in the following areas:
- services that support economic development,
- tourism,
- transport, communications and information technology.
2. In order to implement cooperation in services, the Community shall help carry out programmes, projects and operations submitted to it on the initiative of the ACP States. To this end, it shall use all the means provided for in this Convention, notably those at its disposal under development finance cooperation, including those which are the responsibility of the Bank.
Article 116.
In the field of the development of services, particular attention shall be given to the specific needs of land-locked and island ACP States arising from their geographic situation and also to the economic situations of least-developed ACP States.
Chapter 2. Services That Support Economic Development
Article 117.
In pursuit of cooperation objectives in this sector, cooperation shall concern marketed services, without, however, this leading to neglect of certain para-statal services required to improve the economic environment, such as customs computerization, by giving priority to the following services:
- services that support foreign trade,
- services required by the business sector,
- services that support regional integration.
Article 118.
To help restore the ACP States' external competitiveness, cooperation in the field of services shall give priority to services that support external trade, the scope of which is as follows:
(i) the creation of appropriate infrastructure for trade, in particular through operations to improve external trade statistics, automation of customs procedures, port and airport management and the establishment of closer links between the various protagonists in trade, including exporters, trade financing bodies, customs and central banks;
(ii) the promotion of specifically trade-oriented services such as trade promotion measures that are also applicable to services;
(iii) the development of other external trade-linked services such as trade financing and clearing and payment facilities, and access to information networks.
Article 119.
To foster a strengthening of the economic fabric of ACP States, taking account of the provisions on enterprise development, particular attention shall be paid to the following areas: :
(i) business advisory services to improve the running of firms, notably by facilitating access to services in the fields of management, accountancy, information technology, legal advice, tax consultancy and finance;
(ii) the setting up of adequate, appropriate and flexible business financing facilities to stimulate the growth or setting up of firms in the field of services;
(iii) strengthening the ACP States' capacity in financial services, technical assistance for developing insurance and credit institutions in the field of trade development and promotion.
Article 120.
To underpin economic integration designed to create viable economies, and in view of the provisions on regional cooperation, particular attention shall be given to the following areas:
(i) services to support trade in goods between ACP States through trade measures such as market studies;
(ii) services required for the expansion of trade in services between ACP States with a view to enhancing their complementarity, notably by extending traditional trade promotion measures, adapted where necessary to the services sector;
(iii) the creation of regional centres of services aimed at supporting specific economic sectors or jointly implemented sectoral policies, notably through the development of modern communications and information networks and computerized data banks.
Chapter 3. Tourism
Article 121.
Recognizing the real importance of the tourist industry for the ACP States, the Contracting Parties shall implement measures and operations to develop and support tourism. These measures shall be implemented at all levels, from the identification of the tourist product to the marketing and promotion stage.