1. Overview of APEC project procedures
EGEE&C 39
Sydney, Australia
27-28 February 2012

2. APEC project funding Operational Account (OA)
to support Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH)
Trade & Investment Liberalisation & Facilitation Special Account (TILF)
Achieving part 1 of the Osaka Action Agenda
APEC Support Fund & Sub-Funds (ASF)
Meeting the capacity building needs of developing economies
Self-funding
Economies source full project funding themselves
Projects exist to assist progress in the priority areas being discussed by SOM.
Started with seven projects in 1993, all self funded. Size and scope has grown since then – at 1 Jan 2010, APEC was funding 176 projects, to the value of US$15,297,009.
From 2006 – 2008, the number of projects submitted increased by 40% from 128  180. In the same period, project funding availability grew by 35%. Coupled with an average increase in funds requested of 30%, it meant that project numbers grew by only 12%: 119  134.
In 2009: 140 Submissions, 64 approved to the value of $5,230,811. 2

3. Project approval process
Proponent submits Concept Note to forum
Proponent secures co-sponsors
Forum endorses & ranks all Concept Notes
Proponent submits final Concept Note, & Fora submits ranking, to PD by the BMC deadline
Deadline for session2 – midnight 9 June. Proponent must the final CN to the PD by this deadline. The Fora must also have completed its ranking process by this time. This means that individual groups have to set their own deadline to allow time for endorsement and ranking.
To ensure fairness and transparency, there will be no extensions beyond the midnight 9 June deadline.
IF ASKED:
Who can be a proponent: usually a government official, but can also be a academic, someone from the private sector etc. The key is that the proponent must go through an APEC group.
Submissions can be done Face-to-Face or intersessionally
Must have at least 2 cosponsors

4. Project approval process
Relevant Committee / SFOM ranks & prioritises using APEC Funding Criteria
Secretariat calculates votes. Refers Concept Notes to Principal Decision Makers for an APEC wide priority list (if required).
BMC approves in-principle highest priority Concept Notes within funding availability
All Concept Notes then go to the Prioritisation Phase:
Committees / SFOM will categorise relevant Concept Notes into the relevant Funding Criteria rank (Rank 1-4). Committee / SFOM members also have to prioritse within each Rank. Members will be asked to refer to the prioritisation preferences from fora / WGs / TFs etc.
Committees / SFOM will only consider Concept Notes from groups under their purview. All industry dialogue Concept Notes will be considered by CTI, SOM Concept Notes will be considered by SCE
The Secretariat will calculate the results of Ctte / SFOM ranking and prioritisation and sort Concept Notes by Fund and by Funding Criteria Rank.
If there are insufficient funds within a particular rank under any of the Funds, the Secretariat will refer the Concept Notes in question to the Principal Decision Makers to develop an APEC wide priority list.
In developing an APEC wide priority list, PDMs must maintain the relative priority of each Committee / SFOM. This means it cannot put a Concept Note a Committee has put as priority no.2 over a Concept Note the same Committee has prioritised as no.1.
The Secretariat will use PDM’s responses to develop a single APEC wide priority list
The Secretariat will work from the top of that list down, seeing where the funding availability ends.
The Secretariat will advise BMC of which Concept Notes are of sufficiently high priority that can be funded, and recommend them for in-principle approval.
BMC grants in-principle approval, with final approval dependant on the Concept Note being expanded into a full project proposal, and that proposal being of satisfactory quality
It is estimated that the Prioritisation Phase will take just over 3 weeks to be completed.

5. Project approval process
Proponents with in-principle approval invited to complete full proposal form
Full proposal endorsed & QAF done by fora
Secretariat finds proposal ‘satisfactory’ quality
Secretariat recommends to BMC that the project can commence
Concept Notes with in-principal approval then move to the Quality Phase:
Successful proponents must expand Concept Notes into a full proposal (NOTE – a new proposal template is under BMC consideration)
Proponents are encouraged to work closely with their fora and the secretariat to develop a satisfactory quality proposal. The Secretariat is in the process of recruiting a new staff member that can assist proponents with developing good quality proposals.
The full proposal must reach satisfactory quality before the Secretariat recommends it to BMC to start. The Secretariat will assess projects on the basis of Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability. It will be taken that members have assessed Relevance, and have found this criteria satisfactory.
When satisfactory quality is reached, the Secretariat will recommend that the project commence.
Proponents have until the next project approval session deadline to submit proposals.
If it appears that a proposal will not reach satisfactory quality, the Secretariat will notify the BMC three weeks before the next submission deadline. The BMC may choose to fund the proposal as it stands, provide additional time to the proponent to reach satisfactory quality, or revoke the in-principle approval of the Concept Note.

6. Be realistic about what you can achieve
Some key things to remember while drafting Concept Notes and proposals:
Be realistic about what you can achieve
Be specific about who will benefit and how stakeholders will be involved
Show that you’ve done your homework
Be accurate in developing your budget
Remember the audience: not all proposal readers will be an expert
In addition, the Secretariat has compiled some basic drafting hints for both Concept Notes and proposals.

7. APEC FUNDING CRITERIA IN 2012
Rank 1: Projects that specifically and significantly contribute to promoting regional economic integration via free and open trade and investment – includes:
Promoting greater alignment in regulatory approaches, including through standards, regulatory coherence and cooperation, technical regulations, conformity assessment, risk assessment
Trade facilitation and supply chain performance
Environmental goods and services

8. APEC FUNDING CRITERIA IN 2012
Rank 2: Projects that directly support the Action Plan in the APEC Leaders' Growth Strategy – includes Sustainable Growth:
Energy security
Renewable energy development, alternative energy sources
Reducing energy intensity and promoting energy-efficient technologies
Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies
Low-emissions development strategies (LEDS)
Green jobs education and training
Climate change mitigation and adaptation

9. APEC FUNDING CRITERIA IN 2012
Rank 3: Projects that are linked to other priorities identified by Leaders and Ministers but are less closely linked to regional economic integration via free and open trade and investment

10. APEC Project Quality Criteria
Relevance
Effectiveness
Efficiency
Impact
Sustainability
Projects must meet a satisfactory standard in each criterion to be recommended for funding
For those Concept Note proponents that are asked to complete full proposals, it is important to be aware of the project quality criteria. APEC’s quality criteria come from the OECD & represent good international practice for evaluating proposals.
Information on each criteria is available on the PDB. Proposals must be rated as satisfactory against each criteria – the Secretariat will assess the Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability criteria. Members will assess Relevance through their assessment of priority.

12. Implementation
Projects must be implemented within two APEC financial years – e.g. projects approved at any point in 2012 must be completed by 31 December 2013.
Once a project is approved, the Project Proponent (PP) becomes the Project Overseer (PO) and is responsible for managing the project
Requests for proposals/tenders to implement projects are advertised on the APEC website.

13. Implementation
Projects are implemented in line with the Guidebook on APEC Projects
Monitoring reports are submitted at 6 month intervals
Completion report is submitted within 2 months of project completion
BMC has approved a new monitoring tool and a new approach to reporting at the end of a project. Details of this new framework will be conveyed to fora and members as soon as possible.
“Completion” is the point after all activities are finished and invoices submitted, or the end of the allocated time for the project – whichever is earlier

14. Project Overseer (PO) responsibilities
Monitor and report on progress
Apply APEC project guidelines, e.g. financial contracting, publications
Briefing contractors, participants, speakers and experts of their roles and responsibilities
A PO must not:
Misuse or misappropriate APEC funds
Put themselves in a conflict of interest position
During implementation, the PO is essential to ensuring that the project is carried out correctly.
POs are expected to be aware of the Guidebook on APEC Projects, and use the latest versions of policies guidelines (e.g. Publications). POs should also work closely with their fora’s PD and PE to ensure consistency with project requirements.

15. Monitoring Every six months the PO must complete a monitoring report.
The Secretariat reports projects that have not met the monitoring reporting requirements.
POs that fail to submit monitoring reports may not put forward new concept notes or proposals until all overdue reports are submitted.

16. Project completion An APEC project is considered ‘completed’:
on 31 December of the year following the funding approval, or
when all project activities have been finished and all project invoices received, or
if it is terminated by its approving body (i.e., BMC or SOM).
POs may submit a Request for Extension through the APEC Secretariat.
The PO must submit a completion report within two months after project ends & submit it to the PD at the APEC Secretariat.
Overdue completion reports may prevent the forum from putting forward new concept notes or proposals.

17. See the Projects Section on the APEC website at www.apec.org
Thanks
See the Projects Section on the APEC website at