Support for partnership for democracy and development

foreign policy initiative which brings together 22 OECD countries, Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia, various international organizations, and the Central American republics for the purpose of increasing multidonor collaboration and assistance to Central America in two sectors: trade and investment (T&I); and democratic strengthening. T&I activities, to be implemented by ROCAP through an agreement with the Permanent Secretariat for Central American Trade and Investment (SIECA), will fall into two areas. (1) ROCAP will lead a regional working group to explore mechanisms for improving T&I statistics for use by the private sector, and will develop an action plan to identify weaknesses of regional agencies in data collection and information systems and to suggest training and TA. (2) Working with the Government of Honduras (GOH), ROCAP will organize a regional T&I conference, to be held in Honduras in 3/93. The objective of the conference will be to improve the investment climate in Central America, stimulate foreign private investment from PDD countries in key infrastructure and productive sectors, and increase trade between the region and PDD partners. Democratic initiatives will also fall into two categories. (1) USAID/Costa Rica and the A.I.D. Regional Administration of Justice Office (RAJO) will play lead roles in identifying administration of justice activities to be considered for funding by the PDD community. RAJO will identify activities, develop a description and budget for multidonor support, and implement selected activities through a buy-in to either a LAC/DI project or a USAID/RAJO project. (2) A proposal for an activity to remove land mines in the region will be developed in cooperation with the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Defense Board (IADB); funding is not yet authorized. The project may also support other priority concerns of the PDD community (i.e., development of open markets, open investment environment, legislative processes, human rights, electoral institutions, reintegration of persons affected by civil strife). Amendment of 11/92 authorizes the demining activity. Nicaragua is slated to be the first country to receive teams of U.S. Department of Defense trained demining instructors. The project will finance training, to be conducted at a U.S. military base, for up to 15 instructors from OAS/IADB countries other than Nicaragua, who in turn will instruct up to 80 deminers in Nicaragua (although the latter training will not be A.I.D.-funded). (PD-ABH-859) Amendment of 4/14/93 provides additional funding to continue or complete activities in the T&I and democracy sectors, and to complete demining efforts in Nicaragua, while initiating them in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. (PD-ABG-599)