The ACS has signed Cooperation Agreements and has initiated contacts with several Cooperation and donor Agencies with a view to requesting the possible financing of its projects.
Several countries has been accepted as observers, which can also make contributions – financial or other – to the Special Fund. Offers of technical assistance have been received from some of the observer countries, and bilateral cooperation has materialized with some of them, and with others initial proposals regarding the possibility of bilateral cooperation with the ACS have been presented.
The ACS has been accepted as a United Nations observer since 1998, which should allow it some access to funds and resources from the various UN facilities that are available.
Since its creation, the Secretariat has received cooperation in kind from the Member Countries and/or international cooperation agencies. This cooperation in kind has taken the form of consultancy help, or of personnel who have come to work at the Secretariat for periods (several months), whose costs have been met by the governments who have sent them. In other cases, direct financial help has been received.
The International Union of Technical Institutions, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA), Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE), TARCT, the Organisation of American States (OAS), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the German Government, the French Government, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the United Nation Development Program (UNDP), the Regional Council of Martinique, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have provided financial or technical help.
In 2001/2002, the Special Fund efforts have led to the conclusion of:
A Protocol Agreement was signed with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development, thanks to the generous support of the Venezuelan Economic and Social Development Bank –BANDES- which represents the government of Venezuela at the Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development.
This agreement will led to an increasing role for the ACS in the promotion of the OPEC Fund for International Development in the Greater Caribbean.
The conclusion of the Co-operation Agreement with the International Organization of the Francophonie (The International Organisation of French Speaking-States) to strengthen the French language capabilities of the ACS Secretariat and of the Greater Caribbean.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on December 11, 2002.
The recognition of the ACS Secretariat as an executing agency for the 24 million euros programme Interreg III B – Caribbean Space, approved by the European Commission on May 21, 2002.
The main objectives of the Interreg III Caribbean Space Programme is to promote regional cooperation in the Caribbean Basin and greater economic, social and regional cohesion and integration, between Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, and neighbouring countries, in order to bring about sustainable, balanced and harmonious development.
