I. Establishment
In accordance with the Decision of the 9th D-8 Summit held in Istanbul, Turkey on 20th October 2017, the leaders of D-8 agreed to establish a “D-8 Project Support Fund” within the existing resources and adopt its Terms of Reference by the relevant body in order to assist the project implementation and further instruct the Council of Ministers to explore other financing options.
II. Purpose
The Purpose of the D-8 Project Support Fund is to conduct activities and studies for the implementation of projects/programmes among the D-8 Member States and to conduct prefeasibility and feasibility studies for the implementation of projects/programmes which can bring benefits to the D-8 Member States equitably and to explore opportunity and new markets for the private sector of D-8 Members.
The purpose of establishing the D-8 Project Support Fund are:
(i) To conduct pre-feasibility and feasibility studies for implementation of the projects/programmes among the D-8 Member States;
(ii) To identify possible areas or potential sub-sector that could be explored for economic cooperation;
(iii) To assist the D-8 Member States to conduct analytical studies and other activities for possible implementation of common projects/programmes which can contribute to development of the D-8 Member States;
(iv) To explore opportunity and new markets for the private sector of D-8 Members to cooperate;
(v) To identify barrier to trade in order to facilitate the Customs and other relevant authorities of the D-8 Member States to increase the D-8 intra-trade; and
(vi) To enhance cooperation in other sectors of the D-8 priority areas such as Agriculture, Industry and SMEs, Energy, Transportation and Tourism.
III. Guiding Principles
Utilization of the Fund will be made according to the following guiding principles:
(vii) Projects must to be undertaken in the territory of the D-8 Member States
(viii) Institutions from at least 3 (three) -8 countries must participate and the project must have necessary consent of the Governments of the respective D-8 Member States. Partners from non-D-8 Member States are encouraged to participate in the project but are not eligible for the Grant/Fund.
(ix) Approaches should be viable, pragmatic and result-oriented and in harmony with specific characteristics and interest of D-8 Member States.
(x) International transactional institutions such as IDB, the ADB, the World Bank, etc. may be engaged with from the beginning of the project concept.
(xi) The Fund shall be utilized to draw projects/programmes which are in line with D-8 core objectives and within the framework of the D-8 Global Vision and the Post 2017 D-8 Plan of Action.
IV. Source of Fund
(i) The Fund at the beginning will operate within the existing budgetary framework of the
D-8 Secretariat and at a later stage, other financing options will be explored.
Contributions to the Fund can be made by 10 per cent of the annual assessed
contribution of the D-8 Member Stets to be allocated to the Project Support Fund of the
D-8 Member States.
(ii) Contributions in cash to the Fund may be accepted in EURO or other fully convertible
currencies.
(iii) Financial contributions which are accompanied by an indication of the specific activities
for which they are earmarked shall be assigned the appropriate electronic code for such
activities.
(iv) The Controller/Financial Officer or Accountant has designated the following bank
account in which the resources of the fund shall be kept:
V. Management of the Fund
(i) The Fund shall be managed by the D-8 Secretariat and can be utilized to conduct feasibility study or market survey for potential projects or programmes implementation among the D-8 Member Stets. The utilization of Fund requires the approval of the D-8 Commission. The Secretary General may also be authorized to seek assistance from the individual D-8 Member States, individual donors and international organizations in securing additional funds for the pre-feasibility and feasibility studies of D-8 projects.
(ii) The maximum amount that can be approved and drawn is 20,000 Euro per project for conducting pre-feasibility study and feasibility study and it shall not take more than 12 months to be completed. Additional project financing is welcomed from the partners (own financing) or other sources.
(iii) It is proposed that 50 per cent of the Fund is paid as soon as the project proposal is approved by the D-8 Commission and after signing a contract with the D-8 Secretariat. An interim (mid-term) report as well as a final report must be submitted both with a financial part showing expenditures (all in English). With the completion of the feasibility studies, the relevant party must present valid proof of expenditures to receive the remaining 50 per cent of the Fund.
(iv) Upon completion of a feasibility study and receiving final report, the D-8 Secretariat will send them back to the relevant Working Group which made the initial project proposal for an ex-post evaluation and additional support for the full-scale implementation of the targeted project after receiving endorsement of the relevant sectoral Ministerial Meeting.
VI. Administration and Implementation Arrangements
• The D-8 Secretariat shall be the implementing office of the Fund.
• For the purpose of ensuring proper financial controls, the Secretary-General
of D-8 is the Manager of the Fund and the Director of Administrative, Legal and internal Affairs of the Secretariat shall be the Certifying Officer.
• The Secretary-General shall be responsible for ensuring that the Fund is utilized for the purpose described in above.
• The Certifying Officer shall ensure that expenditures are incurred in accordance with the applicable Financial and Staff Regulations, Rules, Policies and Procedure of D-8, for the purpose intended and within the funds earmarked for that activity and shall draw the attention of the Controller to any proposed commitment or expenditures which, in his or her view, is inconsistent therewith.
VII. Reporting
• The Controller will provide an annual financial statement showing income and expenditures to the D-8 Commission meeting with annual budget proposal of each year with respect to the total funds pledged and received for the Fund and for funds earmarked for specific activities.
• All accounts and financial statements shall be expressed in EURO.
VIII. Audit
• The Fund will be subject solely to the external and internal audit procedures of the D-8 organization for Economic Cooperation.
IX. Revision
• The D-8 Commission and the Secretary-General with mutual consent may revise the above provisions, should circumstances so require.
X. Termination
• The D-8 Commission and the Secretary-General shall decide with mutual consent regarding the termination of the Fund and the disposal of its assets.
Please download the following template and Terms of Reference: Template to submit Project Proposal
