On 4 October 2010 Ambassador Brigitte Öppinger-Walchshofer, Managing Director of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), and Ambassador Gerhard Pfanzelter, CEI Secretary General signed, at the CEI Headquarters in Trieste, the Agreement between ADA and CEI for the period 2011-2013.Austria joined the CEI Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP) in 2008, which since its inception in 2004, had been financed through the Italy-financed CEI Trust Fund at the EBRD alone.
In 2008-2010 the KEP AUSTRIA has successfully supported 12 projects in sectors such as EU integration and capacity building, SMEs, rural development, and sustainable energy. KEP Projects allow beneficiaries (from non-EU countries) to work with their counterparts in the EU Member States in order to upgrade their institutions, procedures and staff and to harmonise with EU practices and rules. This new Agreement aims to enhance cooperation in ADA priority sectors and countries. The signing ceremony in Trieste was also an opportunity to discuss the possibilities of intensifying cooperation between the two parties.
Amb. Öppinger-Walchshofer and Amb. Pfanzelter during signing ceremony
