EU to back three SAARC projects

Under the custom administration project, the EU will provide expertise to eight SAARC countries, for easing custom clearances at key checkpoints in the border areas. The EU would provide 2.6 million Euros for the project, said Etienne Claeye, minister counsellor, head of operations, EU on the sidelines of a seminar in Raichak near Kolkata.

Under the civil society project, the EU will spend 1.2 million Euros towards promoting cooperation between the SAARC nations through chambers of commerce and academicians among others.

Under the civil aviation project, 4 million Euros will be spend on conducting training programmes in areas like air traffic control and safety.

The three projects are likely to be finalsied by the end of this year.

This apart, the EU has will also fund a European Business and Technology Centre in Delhi, with an expense 7 million Euros.

The centre will focus in areas where the EU business operators face non-tariff barriers and market access constraints. The five focus areas of the centre are going to be, environment( clean development mechanism, chemicals management, water management and waste management) climate change , transport, energy(renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean coal, carbon capture and storage technology) and biotech. After Delhi, the EU could open another such centre in Mumbai, said Claeye.

Recently, the EU had established five investment desks in India with the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).