(a) promoting consultations between competent telecommunications bodies in the OCTs and the Community with a view to encouraging development of a competitive telecommunications environment bringing rates closer to costs;
(b) establishment of a dialogue on different aspects of the information society, including regulatory aspects and communications policy;
(c) information exchanges and possible technical assistance on regulation, standardisation, conformity testing and certification of information and communications technologies and the use of frequencies;
(d) dissemination of new information and communications technologies and the development of new facilities, particularly in relation to interconnection of networks and interoperability of applications;
(e) promotion and implementation of joint research in the field of new technologies related to the information society;
(f) design and implementation of programmes and policies to raise the awareness of the economic and social benefits deriving from the information society.
9. Cooperation shall, in particular, be directed towards greater complementarity and harmonisation of communication systems at local, national, regional, inter-regional and international level and their adaptation to new technologies.
10. The Community shall support measures and operations to develop and support sustainable tourism. These measures shall be implemented at all levels, from the identification of the tourist product to the marketing and promotion stage.
The aim shall be to support the efforts of the authorities of the OCT to derive maximum benefit from local, regional and international tourism in view of tourism's impact on economic development and to stimulate private financial flows from the Community and other sources into the development of tourism in the OCTs. Particular attention shall be given to the need to integrate tourism into the social, cultural and economic life of the people, as well as to respect for the environment.
Specific tourism development measures shall be aimed at the definition, adaptation and development of appropriate policies at local, regional, sub-regional and international levels. Tourism development programmes and projects shall be based on these policies on the basis of the following four components:
(a) human resource and institutional development, inter alia:
- Professional management development in specific skills and continuous training at appropriate levels in the private and public sectors to ensure adequate planning and development;
- Establishment and strengthening of tourism promotion centres;
- Education and training for specific segments of the population and public/private organisations active in the tourism sector, including personnel involved in sectors that support tourism;
- Inter-OCT and OCT-ACP cooperation and exchanges in the fields of training, technical assistance and the development of institutions.
(b) the development of products including, inter alia:
- Identification of the tourism product, development of non-traditional and new tourism products, adaptation of existing products including the preservation and development of cultural heritage, ecological and environmental aspects, management, protection and conservation of flora and fauna, historical, social and other natural assets, development of ancillary services;
- Promotion of private investment in the OCTs' tourist industries, including the creation of joint ventures;
- Production of crafts of a cultural nature for the tourist market.
(c) market development including, inter alia:
- Assistance for the definition and execution of objectives and market development plans at local, sub-regional, regional and international levels;
- Support for the OCTs' efforts to gain access to services for the tourist industry such as central reservation systems and air traffic control and security systems;
- Marketing and promotional measures and materials in the framework of integrated market development plans and programmes with a view to improved market penetration, aimed at the main generators of tourism flows in traditional and non-traditional markets as well as specific activities such as participation at specialised trade events, such as fairs, production of quality literature, films and marketing aids;
(d) research and information including, inter alia:
- Improving tourism information and collecting, analysing, disseminating and utilising statistical data;
- Assessment of the socio-economic impact of tourism on the economies of the OCT with particular emphasis on the development of linkages to other sectors in the OCT and the surrounding regions, such as food production, construction, technology and management.
Article 14. Trade-related Areas
1. The Community shall help reinforce, within the development strategies of each OCT, the capacity of the OCTs to handle all areas related to trade, including where necessary improving and supporting the institutional framework.
2. The Community shall cooperate with the OCTs in the introduction of the general principles on protection and promotion of investments.
3. The Community shall also help to reinforce cooperation with the OCTs with a view to formulating and supporting effective competition policies with the appropriate competition agencies that progressively ensure the efficient enforcement of the competition rules by both private and state enterprises. Cooperation in this area shall, in particular, include assistance in the drafting of an appropriate legal framework and its administrative enforcement with particular reference to the least developed OCTs.
4. The Community shall continue to foster cooperation with the OCTs and extend it, in particular, to the following areas:
(a) the preparation of laws and regulations for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, the prevention of the abuse of such rights by rightholders and the infringement of such rights by competitors, the establishment and reinforcement of local, national and regional offices and other agencies including support for regional intellectual property organisations involved in enforcement and protection, including the training of personnel;
(b) the conclusion of agreements aimed at protecting trademarks and geographical indications for products of particular interest.
5. The Community shall assist the OCTs in their efforts with regard to standardisation and certification aimed at promoting compatible systems between the Community and the OCTs. Cooperation shall comprise the following in particular:
(a) measures to promote greater use of international technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures, including sector-specific measures, in accordance with the level of economic development of the OCTs;
(b) cooperation in the area of quality management and assurance in selected sectors of importance to the OCTs;
(c) support for OCT capacity building initiatives in the fields of conformity assessment, metrology and standardisation;
(d) developing links between OCT and European standardisation, conformity assessment and certification institutions.
6. The Community shall help strengthen cooperation with the OCTs with regard to human, animal and plant health measures with a view to building public and private sector capacity in this area.
7. Bearing in mind the Rio Principles and with a view to reinforcing the mutual supportiveness of trade and environment policies, the Community shall enhance cooperation with the OCTs. The aim of cooperation shall in particular be to:
(a) establish coherent local, national, regional and international policies;
(b) reinforce quality controls of goods and services related to the environment;
(c) improve environment-friendly production methods in relevant sectors.
8. The Community shall cooperate with the OCTs in relation to labour standards. Cooperation in this area shall mainly consist of:
(a) exchanges of information on respective labour laws and regulations;
(b) assistance in the formulation of labour legislation and strengthening of existing legislation;
(c) educational and awareness-raising programmes aimed at eliminating child labour;
(d) enforcement of labour legislation and regulations.
9. The Community shall cooperate with the OCTs in the area of consumer policy and consumer health protection by:
(a) improving institutional and technical capacity in this area;
(b) establishing rapid-alert systems of mutual information on dangerous products;
(c) exchanging information and experiences on the establishment and operation of post-market surveillance of products and product safety;
(d) improving information provided to consumers on prices, characteristics of products and services offered;
(e) encouraging the development of private consumer associations and contacts between consumer-interest representatives;
(f) improving compatibility of consumer policies and systems;
(g) informing on the entry into force of legislation and promoting cooperation in investigating harmful or unfair business practices;
(h) implementing exports prohibitions on the trade of goods and services the marketing of which has been prohibited in their country of production.
10. The Community shall support the efforts deployed by the OCT public and private actors in the field of information technology and telecommunications to:
(a) modernise telecommunications infrastructure, data transmission services, remote processing applications and telematics application projects (TAP);
(b) develop and improve the services and the human capacity needed for achieving the information society, and integrate those services in the best possible way in a regional context;
(c) improve awareness of economic opportunities and exchanges of experience and of knowhow;
(d) provide better information to the users of those resources;
(e) exploit the potential of this sector in an optimum and sustainable manner;
(f) develop the use of communications and information technology in the field of education, including distance learning;
(g) increase electronic commerce and economic cooperation;
(h) improve and modernise health networks, through the development of links between hospitals, the use of remote diagnosis and the creation of joint databases;
(i) develop multimedia access to cultural and tourist resources;
(j) improve and increase the use of information and communications technology in industry and for innovation.
Article 15. Social Sectors
The Community shall contribute, within the development strategies of each OCT, to human and social development measures. Cooperation could in particular support programmes in the following sectors:
(a) Education policy and institution building (buildings and materials); language and teacher training; primary education; secondary education and vocational training; higher education (including sector-specific education activities, e.g. agricultural training).
In education, the focus should be on widening access to and improving the quality of basic education by constructing more schools, rehabilitating existing classrooms and providing educational materials, teacher training, and bursaries for poor students;
(b) Health sector reform activities, health policy and institution building; medical education, training and research, health infrastructure; HIV/AIDS.
In the health sector, projects should help to provide primary and preventive care services, particularly family planning and child and maternal health services;
(c) Population policy and family planning; mother and child care, including support for projects on the nurturing and development of the next generation.
(d) Increasing the efficiency of policies to prevent the production, distribution and trafficking of all kinds of drugs, narcotics and psychotropic substances, preventing and reducing drug abuse, taking into account work done in this context by international bodies.
Cooperation shall comprise the following:
(i) training, education, health promotion and rehabilitation of addicts, including projects for the reintegration of addicts into work and social environments;
(ii) measures to encourage alternative economic opportunities, for example programmes for the alternative development of areas used for the illicit production of narcotic plants, linked to effective enforcement measures;
(iii) technical, financial and administrative assistance relating to the monitoring of precursors trade, and the establishment of standards equivalent to those adopted by the Community and international authorities concerned;
(iv) technical, financial and administrative assistance relating to the prevention, treatment and reduction of drug abuse;
(v) technical assistance and training, and the establishment of standards to prevent money laundering equivalent to those adopted by the Community and other international bodies, in particular the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laudering;
(vi) exchange of relevant information for the implementation of points (a) to (d).
(e) Water policy and institution building; water resources protection; waste management (water for agriculture or energy will be covered under the relevant sector).
In the water supply and sanitation sector, the aim shall be to provide services in under-served areas. Funding that supports increasing access to drinking water supply and sanitation services contributes directly to human resources development by improving the state of health, and thus increasing the productivity, of people who do not already have access to these services; the continuing need to extend basic services in water, sanitation, and transport to both urban and rural populations must be addressed in environmentally sustainable ways.
(f) The Community shall cooperate with the OCTs in the conservation, sustainable use and management of their biological diversity taking into account the Community Action Plan on biological diversity.
Cooperation in this area may, in particular, extend to:
(i) supporting the elaboration, updating and implementation of national biodiversity strategies and action plans;
(ii) facilitating the establishment of local, regional and sub-regional mechanisms for the exchange of information and the monitoring and assessment of progress in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)(7);
(iii) developing and maintaining up-to-date databases on OCT biological diversitys;
(iv) implementing appropriate measures relating to the access to genetic resources;
(v) promoting the conclusion of agreements with the private sector for the use of the country's genetic resources, so that local communities may effectively benefit from the economic revenue derived from such agreements and so that the use of genetic resources does not harm the protection and conservation of the biodiversity;
(vi) assisting the OCTs to participate actively in the policy-making process and negotiations under the CBD.
(g) Housing and integrated urban development projects and programmes.
In urban development, efforts shall focus on building or rehabilitating roads and other basic infrastructure, including low-income housing.
Article 16. Regional Cooperation and Integration
Cooperation shall ensure that effective aid is provided in order to achieve the objectives and priorities established by the competent OCT authorities in the framework of regional and subregional cooperation and integration:
1. Regional cooperation shall cover operations agreed on between:
(a) two or more OCTs;
(b) one or more OCTs and one or more neighbouring ACP or non-ACP States;
(c) one or more OCTs and one or more ACP States or one or more of the most remote regions referred to in Article 299(2) of the Treaty (Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, Reunion, the Canary Islands, Azores and Madeira);
(d) two or more regional bodies of which OCTs are members;
(e) one or more OCTs and regional bodies of which OCTs, ACP States or one or more of the most remote regions are members.
2. The objectives of cooperation in this context shall be to:
(a) foster the gradual integration of the OCTs into the world economy;
(b) accelerate economic cooperation and development within the regions of the OCT and between them and the regions of the ACP States;
(c) promote the free movement of persons, goods, services, capital, labour and technology;
(d) accelerate economic diversification and the coordination and harmonisation of regional and sub-regional cooperation policies;
(e) promote and foster inter-OCT and intra-OCT trade as well as trade with the most remote regions, ACP States or other third countries.
3. In the context of regional integration, the aim of cooperation shall be to:
(a) build and enhance the capacity of regional cooperation and integration organisations and institutions to promote regional cooperation and integration;
(b) encourage the least developed OCTs to take part in the development of regional markets and benefit therefrom;
(c) implement sectoral reform policies at regional level;
(d) liberalise trade and payments;
(e) stimulate cross-border foreign and domestic investment and other regional or sub-regional economic integration initiatives;
(f) take account of the net transitional cost of regional integration on budget revenue and balance of payments.
4. Cooperation shall, in the area of regional cooperation, cover a wide variety of functional and thematic fields which specifically address common problems and take advantage of economies of scale, including:
(a) infrastructure, particularly transport and communications infrastructure and related safety problems, energy;
(b) the environment, water resource management;
(c) health, education and training;
(d) research and scientific and technical cooperation;
(e) regional disaster preparedness and alleviation initiatives;
(f) other areas, e.
g. arms controls, drugs, organised crime, money laundering, fraud and corruption.
5. Cooperation shall also support inter-regional, inter-OCT and inter-ACP cooperation schemes and initiatives.
Article 17. Cultural and Social Cooperation
Cooperation shall contribute to the self-reliant development of the OCTs, this being a process centred on people themselves and rooted in each people's culture. The human and cultural dimension shall embrace all areas and be reflected in all development projects and programmes. Cooperation shall back up the policies and measures adopted by the competent OCT authorities to enhance their human resources, increase their own creative capacities and promote their cultural identities. It shall foster participation by the population in the process of development. Cultural and social cooperation shall be expressed through:
- The taking into account of the cultural and social dimension;
- Promotion of cultural identities and intercultural dialogue, with particular reference to preserving the cultural heritage, the production and dissemination of cultural products, cultural events and information and communication;
- Operations to enhance human resources, notably covering education and training, scientific and technical cooperation, the role of women in development, health and combating drug abuse, population and demography.
Part THREE. Instruments of Oct-ec Cooperation
Title I. DEVELOPMENT FINANCE COOPERATION
Chapter 1. General Provisions
Article 18. Objectives
The objective of development finance cooperation shall be, through the provision of adequate financial resources and appropriate technical assistance, to:
(a) support and promote the OCTs' own efforts to achieve sustainable social, cultural and economic development on the basis of mutual interest and in a spirit of interdependence;
(b) help raise the standard of living of the peoples of the OCTs;
(c) promote measures likely to mobilise the capacity for initiative of communities, groups, associations and individuals and their participation in the design and implementation of development programmes;
(d) contribute to the fullest participation of the population in the benefits of development in the interests of alleviating poverty;
(e) contribute to the development of the capacity of the OCTs to innovate, adapt and transform local technologies and to master appropriate new technologies;
(f) support the efforts of the OCTs to achieve economic diversification, inter alia by contributing to sustainable exploration, conservation, processing and exploitation of their natural resources;
(g) provide support for and promote the optimal development of human resources in the OCTs;
(h) facilitate an increase in the financial flows to the OCTs that meet their evolving needs and support the efforts of the OCTs to harmonise international cooperation for their development through cofinancing of operations with other financing agencies or third parties;
(i) promote direct private investment in the OCTs, support the development of a healthy, prosperous and dynamic OCT private sector and encourage local, national and foreign private investment flows into the productive sectors in the OCTs;
(j) encourage inter-OCT and OCT-ACP regional cooperation, solidarity and integration;
(k) permit the establishment of more balanced economic and social relations and better understanding between the OCTs, ACP States, Member States and the rest of the world, with a view to assisting the integration of the OCTs into the world economy;
(l) enable OCTs faced with serious economic and social difficulties of an exceptional nature resulting from natural disasters or extraordinary circumstances having comparable effects to benefit from emergency assistance;
(m) help the least-developed OCTs to overcome the specific obstacles which hamper their development efforts.
Article 19. Principles
1. Development finance cooperation shall be based on partnership, complementarity and subsidiarity and shall: