EU, GOVERNMENT OF SWAZILAND MEET TO REVIEW COOPERATION 13 FEBRUARY 2014 The Government of Swaziland and the European Union met today to review the performance of their co-operation in 2013 and to agree on the priorities for 2014 and beyond. The meeting was held at the Royal Villas in Ezulwini. The meeting was chaired by the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development in his capacity as National Authorising Officer (NAO) for the EUs co-operation with Swaziland. His Excellency Mr. Nicola Bellomo, the recently appointed Ambassador of the European Union to Swaziland, led the European Union Delegation. The review concluded that Swazilands co-operation with the European Union is proceeding to the satisfaction of the partners. In 2013, the European Union committed €19 million in new funding which amounts to E285 million at current exchange rates. This included €8.2 million under the 10th EDF Governance Programme to improve Public Financial Management (PFM), a new allocation of € 9 million in compensation for fluctuations in export earnings (FLEX) of which €4 million has been allocated to the Education Sector and €5 million for the rehabilitation of the Malkerns Canal and €1.8 million for a Land Governance Project. In accordance with targets set in February 2013, the EU disbursed a record amount of €31 million Euros (E465 million Emalangeni at todays exchange rate). Four new projects under the National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) for sugar commenced in 2014. These included the upgrading of the Siphofaneni–St. Phillips road and bridges Phase 2 to the tune of €20.2million, the upgrading of the Mananga–Sihhoye road (€7.7 million), Mandzana-Dvokolwako road (€2.2 million) and the upgrading of works on the Mhlume Siphon 4 (€3.9 million). The sugar sector will also benefit from a Call for Proposals launched under the €19.5 million Swaziland Sugar Facility in 2013. This call is expected to result in the award of grants for sugar sector stakeholders in 2014 for actions that lead to improved productivity and efficiency of small and medium scale sugarcane growers and to improve the provision of social services in the sugar belt. With regard to support for the social sectors, the EU continued its support to Universal Free Primary Education under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) Support to Education and Training Programme. An allocation of €1.5 million Euros was made for school fees in 2013. Although there were some processing delays, a Grant Contract of €1.2 million with the Swaziland Water Services Corporation is now ready for signature. This heralds the design phase of the project to extend water supply to Siphofaneni, Somntongo and Matsanjeni to benefit a population of 60,000. Commenting on the Government of Swazilands co-operation with the European Union, Mr. Bertram Stewart, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, said: • The Government of Swaziland was grateful to the European Union for its continued support to Swaziland under the Cotonou Partnership – a partnership built on trade, development assistance, governance, mutual respect and cooperation. He indicated that has his Ministry has been hosting the annual review meetings for the past 4 years now and that he is pleased to note that each of those years has exceeded the previous one in terms of commitments and disbursements made to the benefit of public, private and non-state actors and indeed he whole population of Swaziland. • That one of the most important indicators realised in 2013 was the long-awaited appointment of a new EU Head of Delegation to Swaziland – importantly one who will be resident in Swaziland and thus making the Delegation a fully-fledged one. • That all funds available under the Accompanying Measures for Sugar have already been committed and requested the EU Head of Delegation’s support in facilitating utilization of any balances unutilized by other countries that might exist under the framework globally in order to further improve the competitiveness of the sugar industry in Swaziland. Mr. Nicola Belomo, EU Head of Delegation to Swaziland, stated that: • It is in the interest of the EU to enhance economic, commercial and cultural exchanges between Europe and Swaziland and described how important it is to ensure that Swazi citizens are made aware of the work accomplished through the Government of Swaziland-European Union cooperation. The EU Head of Delegation mentioned that as the European Union, they are proud to have committed the last funds under 10th EDF (€8.2 million) aimed at improving the Public Finance Management (PFM), which is crucial for our country to help address structural issues related to budgetary management and execution. He indicated that the meeting presents an excellent opportunity for him to have a full overview of all the projects/programmes that the two partners are jointly implementing. • Mr Bellomo further commended Swaziland for her success in the programming the 11th EDF. He pointed out that Swaziland’s Multi Indicative Programme (MIP) for the 11th EDF was presented on time and its quality allowed the country to be amongst the first batch of MIPS going for approval to EU Parliament with two focal sectors confirmed - social protection and agriculture
Posted on: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 09:34:42 +0000
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