This MOU will come into effect on the 23rd February, 2010.
The Parties to the MOD
Contributor: Chinese Taipei
Recipient: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat

Purpose of the MOD
The Contributor is willing to provide funding for projects, in
support of APEC's Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH)
activities, which meet the capacity building needs of APEC's
developing economies. The tied contributions will support Human
Security priorities through ASF Sub-Fund A and will support
Energy Efficiency priorities through ASF Sub-Fund D. Details of
the establishment and operation of the APEC Support Fund can be
found in Annex I.

The Contribution
The Contributor will make a tied contribution of USD1,000,000
("the contribution") to the Recipient into an account specified
by the Recipient within two weeks of the signing of this MOU. Of
the contribution, USD500,000 will be directed to ASF Sub-Fund A
(Human Security) and USD500,000 will be directed to ASF Sub-Fund
D (Energy Efficiency/ Environment).

Management of Contributions
The Recipient will manage the contribution and will maintain
full records of the Sub-Funds A and D, including accounts of
income and expenditure.

Approval of Projects
The Contributor and the Recipient may call for and receive
project proposals within the ambit of the priority set above
from interested economies or fora or may commission projects.
The Recipient will assess the proposals according to agreed
criteria and make recommendations to the Budget and Management
Committee (BMC) for the approval of the projects.

Audit of the APEC Support Fund - Sub-Funds A and D
The accounts of the Sub-Fund A & D will be audited by the
auditors of the Recipient.

Annual Report
The Recipient in close coordination with the Contributor will
prepare an Annual Report of the activities of the Sub-Funds A
and D. The Report will be considered by BMC and the Senior
Officials Meeting of APEC (SOM). The comments of SOM on the
Annual Report will be acted upon by the Recipient.

Withdrawal of Contributor
The Contributor may withdraw from the MOD with one month's
notice to the Recipient, provided that all commitments are
fulfilled. Otherwise withdrawal is with the agreement of both
parties. Upon termination of the MOD, the Contributor remains
committed to provide funds to those projects that have already
been approved under Sub-Funds A and D. If the Contributor
requires the return of an uncommitted amount, the Recipient will
return that amount to the Contributor 60 days after receipt of
the notification.

SIGNED for and on behalf of SIGNED for and on behalf of the
Chinese Taipei by Asia Pacific
Paul W. L. Chang Economic Cooperation Secretariat
Chinese Taipei APEC Senior by Ambassador Muhamad Noor Yacob
Official Director General Executive Director
Department of International Asia Pacific Economic
Organizations Ministry of Cooperation (APEC)
Foreign Affairs Secretariat


Annex 1
APEC Support Fund

Introduction
1. In November 2004, Ministers endorsed the proposed APEC
Support Fund (ASF) and welcomed the offer of Australia to
contribute AUD$3 million to the fund over the coming three
years. The wording used was: "Ministers noted that APECs
growing work program is generating greater demand on its
capacity-building resources. Accordingly, they instructed
officials to consider ways to broaden APEC's funding base,
and endorsed the establishment of an APEC Support Fund ('the
ASF'), which could attract funds from government as well as
non-government sources."
2. Ministers instructed Senior Officials to work on the
operational aspects of the ASF and to report on progress. At
SOM I in Seoul, following discussion of the Secretariat's
concept paper on the ASF (2005/S0MI/032), Senior Officials
agreed that a revised version of the paper should be prepared
for approval by economies. A revised paper outlining the ASF
guidelines (2005/BMCI/01O and 2005/S0MIII033 Att4) was
subsequently endorsed at the April Budget and Management
Committee (BMC) meeting in Singapore and approved by Senior
Officials during SOM II in Jeju, Korea in May 2005.
Conceptual Basis for the ASF
3. The objective of the ASF is to serve as a flexible funding
mechanism to complement the existing Operational and Trade
and Investment Liberalisation and Facilitation (TILF) Special
Accounts for meeting capacity building needs for APEC
developing economies in APEC's agreed high priority sectors
for economic and technical cooperation. Contributions
(co-financing or in-kind) from proposing and/or participating
economies (excluding donors to the ASF) are required. The
Fund would also welcome contributions from private sources.
4. The ASF will permit two types of contributions - general and
tied. General contributions are contributions that have not
been earmarked for a specific purpose and will be allocated
to APEC identified priorities through the BMC and SOM
processes. Tied contributions are donor contributions to a
specific APEC priority area (for example anti-corruption or
counter-terrorism).
Approval of General Contributions
5. Approval is not required for general contributions from an
APEC economy. Publicity, if requested, would be provided
through the APEC Secretariat. If the donor is a
nongovernmental organization, including a company, or an
individual, then approval to receive the contribution will be
required from the BMC, following broad principles set out in
the APEC Sponsorship Guidelines. The approval would note the
publicity and other benefits which the contributor may gain
and any conditions attached to the contributions.
Approval of Tied Contributions: ASF Sub-Funds
6. Donors can earmark contributions for specific high priority
sectors (e.g., telecommunications) or sub-sectors (e.g.,
telecommunications infrastructure). These are termed "tied
funds" and the funds will be managed under a relevant
sub-fund of the ASF. The establishment of a new sub-fund will
require the approval of BMC - where possible tied funds
should be channeled to an existing sub-fund. The approval
process for tied funding would otherwise be the same as in
paragraph 5 above for general donations to the ASF.
7. The following are general principles for the ASF Sub-Funds:
(a) An economy or organization wishing to establish a sub-fund
must apply to the Secretariat for approval by BMC. This may
be approved intersessionally.
(b) If a sub-fund proposal covers a generic area within APEC
(e.g., counter-terrorism, energy, or intellectual property)
the relevant APEC forum/fora must first consider the
application before it is approved by the BMC.
(c) Sub -fund proposals must state how they align with the
objectives of APEC.
(d) The principles of the APEC Sponsorship Guidelines will apply
to non-member funding/co-funding of a sub-fund.
8. Allocation of funds to specific projects under the ASF must
take place through the application of APEC project selection
procedures in line with APEC's new quality assessment
framework endorsed by Ministers in November 2004. Donors
cannot however earmark contributions against a specific
project or activity. Offers to fund specific projects should
be pursued as a sponsorship arrangement and considered under
sponsorship approval procedures.
Procedures for Projects under the ASF
9. Projects for funding under the ASF (including its sub-funds)
will, in principle, be open for participation by all APEC
members, but funding will be available only for capacity
building projects that primarily benefit developing economy
members. If it furthers the interests of APEC, one or more
non-APEC developing economies may be additional beneficiaries
of an ASF proposal. This will be determined on a case-by-case
basis in accordance with normal procedures on non-member
participation in APEC activities.
10. The procedures governing the ASF will be similar to those
governing other APEC projects as set out in the Guidebook on
APEC Projects. In regard to the ASF there will be:
(a) An Approval Process through the BMC to Ensure Compliance
with APEC Objectives:
(i) It is open for the ASF (including its sub-funds) to call
for and receive project proposals within its ambit from
interested economies or fora or to commission projects.
(ii) Project proposals will be assessed by the Secretariat,
following consideration by the relevant APEC fora,
against several criteria:
● the degree to which the proposal meets the objectives
and priorities of APEC;
● the degree to which the proposal meets the requirements
of the Quality Assurance Framework; and
● value for money.
(iii) The Secretariat will make recommendations to the BMC on
whether the proposal meets minimum fund guidelines.
Where appropriate, the Secretariat will consult with
project proponents to ensure the quality of proposals.
(iv) The Secretariat's assessment will be forwarded to the BMC
for consideration and prioritization and approval. In
special cases where project priority and urgency are
judged to be significant the Secretariat could seek BMC
approval intersessionally.
(b) Application of a Comprehensive Project Management and
Evaluation Framework: Projects under the ASF will be
assessed, monitored and implemented under a comprehensive
project management and evaluation framework. This is
consistent with the goal of the SOM Steering Committee on
ECOTECH (SCE) and BMC (endorsed by Ministers) to improve
evaluation of ECOTECH projects through the work of the BMC
Small Groups on Evaluation.
Other Considerations
11. The ASF's management arrangements will evolve according to
the size and requirements of the fund. Additional expenses
for the Secretariat operating the ASF and sub-funds will
initially be an upgrade of one existing accounting staff
position. In addition, Australia has provided a new
Professional Staff Member as part of its contribution to the
ASF. If the number, value and complexity of projects under
ASF (and its sub-funds) increase there may be a need for
additional Program Assistant(s) or other assistance on an
ad-hoc basis. The costs of such assistance may be absorbed
by the Administrative Account (AA), as was done when the
TILF Fund was established.
12. The ASF will produce an annual report for the BMC which will
be forwarded, together with any BMC observations, to SOM.
13. The Fund (including sub-funds) will be audited by the
Secretariat's auditors.

APEC Secretariat
February 2010