HELLENIC PLAN FOR THE ECONOMIC RECONSTRUCTION

OF THE BALKANS (HiPERB)

                Having undertaken certain obligations as a member state of the European Union and a member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), Greece committed itself to the annual increase of its international development assistance with a view to ultimately achieve the target of 0,51% of its Gross National Income (GNI). Within this framework, a five-year programme for Greek development assistance, the Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans (HiPERB), was drawn up for the period 2002-2006. Taking, however, into consideration the more than two-year delay in HiPERBs practical implementation mid-2004 instead of 2002, it was considered necessary to prolong the programme until 2011, so as to give recipient countries the possibility to make use of more of the HiPERB funds allocated to them.

                HiPERB is an effort on the part of Greece, in its capacity as a donor country, to incorporate individual initiatives of development assistance into one single plan and thus promote an integrated development policy. This Plan is aimed at political, economic and social stability in Southeast Europe, whereas its ultimate goal is to modernise infrastructure, promote production investments, support democratic institutions and the rule of law, modernise public administration and local government, strengthen the welfare state, redress economic inequalities and offer professional training to workers and scientists in the recipient countries. Another equally important objective of HiPERB is to support the recipient countries European perspective.

                The total budget for the Hellenic Plan for the Economic Reconstruction of the Balkans (HiPERB) comes to 550 million , which is earmarked for carrying out big-scale infrastructure projects, strengthening private initiatives and bolstering cooperation between the countries of our region. The Plans seven recipient countries, i.e. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, FYROM, Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia are not only Greeces trade partners, but frequently serve as transit countries linking Greece with the rest of Europe and the broader region. The principles that govern HiPERBs implementation are efficiency and transparency. The Plans management bodies are the HiPERB Monitoring Committee, the Monitoring Committees Secretariat, National Coordinators, and the Joint Management Committee.

                The total budget of 550 million is allocated by recipient country, on the one hand and by sector, on the other hand: Public investments/projects-79% (421.844.200 ), Private productive investments-20% (106.796.000 ), Small Projects Fund-1% (5.339.800 ).

                The allocation of the 550 million by recipient country and by sector can be presented as follows: