François BONNEAU, President of the Regional Council and Jean-Michel SEVERINO, Chief Executive Officer of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), are signing a framework partnership agreement for actions of mutual interest in common cooperation countries and areas in Africa (cooperation between the River Loire and the River Niger in Mali’s Mopti region, cooperation with Mauritania’s Gorgol region) and in Asia (Lao PDR’s Luang Prabang Province).

Région Centre and AFD have already joined forces for operations which include the long-standing cooperation between the cities of Chinon and Luang Prabang in Lao PDR. AFD provided 5.5 million euros of financing for a project to develop a protected area in Luang Prabang which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Lao PDR’s most visited regions. AFD also supports this cooperation action via the FGEF (French Global Environment Facility) for urban hydrosystem maintenance in tropical areas.

A city-to-city cooperation agreement was signed between the Région Centre and Luang Prabang Province in 2005 in order to strengthen this process. The program implemented within this framework aims to maintain and consolidate existing preservation and sustainable development processes but on a wider geographical and thematic scale (Nam Khan Valley), to consolidate the region’s marked city-country link and combine development and the environment. This operation should also benefit from AFD support in the coming months.

Through this agreement both parties wish to develop feedback and consultation on strategies and programs concerning local partners in the South, as well as methodological reflection on project preparation, implementation and ex-post evaluation.

Région Centre has been implementing a city-to-city cooperation policy since 1998. It thereby specifically supports projects in “priority cooperation areas”, creates an environment in the region which contributes to opening it up to the outside world and to disseminating international solidarity values. Région Centre has built up city-to-city relations with territorial entities in Africa, Asia, South America and Europe. In addition to specific actions to support local development, decentralization processes and institutional management capacity building for partner local authorities, this type of cooperation makes it possible to scale up exchanges between respective regions and thus build up strong relations, open up more to other cultures and, in the specific case of neighbouring regions, foster the development of European citizenship. Another original aspect of this policy is that it promotes river-to-river cooperation (particularly in Lao PDR and Mali), though it should be noted that this common intervention framework, which aims to protect and develop heritage resources, comes in response to a major event which was the Loire Valley being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is a public establishment and has been working for over sixty years to combat poverty and foster the development of South countries within the framework of France’s official development assistance. AFD is active in the field in over 70 countries and Overseas France and finances and supports projects to improve living conditions for populations, support economic growth and protect the planet: getting children into school, supporting farmers, small enterprises, water supply, preserving tropical forests, combating climate change…
In 2007 AFD devoted 3.5 billion euros of financing for actions in South countries and Overseas France. Thanks to these financings 5.8 million children went to school and 4 million people received water supply. Energy efficiency projects for the same year reduced CO² emissions by 2.7 million tons a year.

Press Relations

AFD

Guillaume de Saint-Phalle, desaintphalleg@afd.fr - Tel.: +33.1.53.44.36.64

Anne-Sophie Morizot (Hopscotch), asmorizot@hopscotch.fr – Tel.: +33.1.58.65.00.88

Région Centre

Catherine Bernard : catherine.bernard@regioncentre.fr - Tel.: +33.2.38.70.31.40