ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: Small Projects Facility (SPF), funded by the European Union for Pakistan, will further strengthen EU-Pakistan relations, European Commission (EC) Ambassador in Islamabad Ilkka Uusitalo said.

The European Commission delegation in Pakistan held a seminar on its new programme in economic cooperation, EU-Pakistan Small Projects Facility (SPF), here on Wednesday.

The information-raising seminar on the EU-Pakistan Small Projects Facility (SPF) in economic cooperation was largely attended by representatives of public and private organizations.

This was the last of a series of seminars organized in major economic centres and cities in Pakistan since September 30.

A total of five seminars have been conducted so far, each drawing about 100 participants in Peshawar, Lahore, Sialkot, Karachi and Islamabad, he said.

The overall objective of the EU-Pakistan Small Projects Facility (SPF) is to improve EU-Pakistan relations and mutual visibility by promoting dialogue and by facilitating interactions in areas of governance and administrative reforms.

It is a new EC instrument under the framework of economic cooperation, he added.

Undertaken for two years (until December 2006), SPF funds will be made available to successful applicants under a series of competitive calls for proposals.

The First Call for Proposals was launched on October 15 in the press. Interested organizations will have until December 30 to send their project proposals to the EC delegation in Pakistan.

The First Call for Proposals will focus on two main themes; development and promotion of best practices/models at local levels of public administration, notably on transparency and accountability issues, using experience and expertise gained from EU countries.

Secondly, business-to-business cooperation in specific sectors of common interest to both EU and Pakistan with emphasis on the promotion and implementation of aspects of corporate responsibility and corporate best practices.

The SPF is targeting non-profit making organizations (e.g. NGOs, business associations, universities, think tanks), which are actively working with communities and local stakeholders in the above-mentioned areas.

The SPF will fund innovative projects of a short duration (12 months) throughout Pakistan. A series of information-raising seminars are being organized in major cities till November 9.