SUMMIT
DECLARATION ON BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION
Istanbul,
25 June 1992
The Heads of State or Government
of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania,
Russia, Turkey and Ukraine;
1. Taking into account the
profound and rapid changes in Europe and the determination of the peoples
of the continent to shape a new era of peace and security on the basis
of the principles laid down in the Helsinki Final Act and follow-up CSCE
documents and particularly in the Charter of Paris for a new Europe,
2. Recognizing that a prosperous
and united Europe will evolve on shared values such as democracy based
on human rights and fundamental freedoms, prosperity through economic liberty
and social justice, and equal security for all countries,
3. Taking into consideration
the potential of the Participating States and the opportunities for enhancing
the mutually advantageous economic cooperation arising from their geographic
proximity and from the reform process and structural adjustments,
4. Conscious of the importance
of the environmental problems of the Black Sea for the well-being of their
peoples and recognizing that it is vital to ensure the environmental sustainability
of their economic development,
5. Confirm the intention
to develop economic cooperation as a contribution to the CSCE process,
to the establishment of a Europe-wide economic area, as well as to the
achievement of a higher degree of integration of the Participating States
into the word economy,
6. Share the common objectives
to achieve the further development and diversification of both bilateral
and multilateral cooperation among them as well as with other interested
countries, to foster their economic, technological and social progress,
and to encourage free enterprise,
7. Agree that their economic
cooperation will be developed in a manner not contravening their obligations
and not preventing the promotion of the relations of the Participating
States with third parties, including international organizations as well
as the EC and the cooperation within the regional initiative,
8. Aim to ensure that the
Black Sea becomes a sea of peace, stability and prosperity, striving to
promote friendly and good-neighborly relations,
9. Declare that the economic
cooperation among the Participating States will be developed on the basis
of the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and the decisions in the subsequent
CSCE documents, as well as of the other universally recognized principles
of international law,
10. Agree that the economic
cooperation will be promoted gradually and, while determining the priorities
in this process, they will take into account the specific economic conditions,
interests and concerns of the countries involved, and particularly the
problems of the countries in transition to market economy,
11. Affirm that the whole
economic cooperation among their countries is open for the participation
of other interested States recognizing the provisions of this Document.
As regards projects of common interest, individual countries, their economic
and financial institutions, enterprises and firms as well as regional and
international economic and finacial institutions could be involved in their
realizations,
12. Decide to develop comprehensive
multilateral and Bilateral Black Sea economic cooperation, covering the
various fields of activity as specified below,
13. Affirming their determination
to make best use of all posibilities and opportunities for expanding and
multiplying their cooperation in the fields of economics, including trade
and industrial cooperation, of science and technology and of the environment,
the participating States declare that they will take from now on concrete
steps in this process by identifying, developing and carrying out, with
the participation of their competent organizations, enterprises and firms,
projects of common interest, inter alia, in the following areas :
- transport and communications,
including their infrastructure;
- informatics,
- exchange of economic and
commercial -information, including statistics;
- standardization and certification
of products;
- energy;
- mining and processing
of mineral raw materials;
- tourism;
- agriculture and agro-industries;
- veterinary and sanitary
protection;
- health care and pharmaceuties;
- science and technology;
14. In order to promote their
cooperation, the Participating States will act to improve the business
environment and to stimulate individual and collective initiative of the
enterprises and firms directly involved, mainly by :
- facilitating via bilateral
negotiations the prompt entry, stay and free movement of businessmen in
their respective territories and encouraging direct contacts among enterprises
and firms;
- providing support for
small and medium-sized enterprises;
- contrubuting to the expansion
of their mutual trade in goods and services and ensuring conditions favorable
to such development by continuing their efforts to further reduce or progressively
eliminate obstacles of all kinds, in a manner not contravening their obiligations
towards third parties;
- ensuring appropriate conditions
for investment, capital flows and different forms of industrial cooperation,
notably by concluding and putting into effect, in the near future, agreements
on the avoidance of double taxation and on the promotion and protection
of investments;
- encouraging the exchanging
of information on iternational tenders organized in the Participating States
so as to give the opportunity to their enterprises and firms to participate
therein, in accordance with the national rules and practices;
- encouraging cooperation
in free economic zones.
15. The Participating States
will take appropriate steps, including by promoting joint projects, for
the protection of the environment, particularly the preservation and the
improvement of the environment of the Black Sea, and the conservation,
exploitation and development of its bio-productive potential,
16. The Participating States
will consider or encourage the conclusion of appropriate credit and finacial
arrangements at the governmental and nongovernmental level and will seek
to mobilize funds, including through international institutions and third
parties, for the purpose of expanding their mutual economic and commercial
cooperation and implementing specific projects of common interest in the
Black Sea area. In this context, they will consider the possibilities and
the ways of establishing a "Black Sea Foreign Trade and Investment Bank."
17. Meetings of the Foreign
Ministers of the Participating States will be convened regularly on rotation
basis, at least once a year, to review progress and to define new targets.
By common understanding, ad hoc and permanent working groups of experts
are to be set up to propose the necessary arrangements concerning the cooperation
in different fields. The Participating States consider that at this stage
of their cooperation it is necessary to ensure institutional flexibility.
Representatives of the business community should be invited to this process
so as to benefit from their practical experience.
18. Those States which commit
themselves to the observance of the provisions of the present document
can join, with the approval of the Participating States, the whole process
of cooperation. Organizations, enterprises and firms of third parties will
also be given the possibility of indicating their interest in projects
of common interest and, in case of agreement, of taking part in their implemtation.
Regional and international economic and financial institutions may also
contribute in the carrying out of these projects.
REPORT
OF THE MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP ON
EXCHANGE
OF STATISTICAL DATA AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION
Ankara,
1-2 October 1992
1. The meeting of the Working
Group on Exchange of Statistical Data and Economic Information (WG) of
the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) was held in Ankara on 1-2 October
1992.
2. The Meeting was honored
by H.E. Süleyman DEMİREL, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey. The
speech delivered by the Prime Minister is attached as Annex I*.
3. The Meeting was attended
by the following Participating States of the BSEC :
Republic of Albania
Republic of Armenia
Republic of Azerbaijan
Republic of Bulgaria
Republic of Georgia
Republic of Greece
Romania
Russian Federation
Republic of Turkey
The list of participants
of the Meeting is attached as Annex II*.
4. The Meeting was chaired
by the President of the State Institute of Statistics of Turkey, Professor
Orhan GÜVENEN.
5. The WG discussed and adopted
the draft agenda of the Meeting. The agenda, as adopted by the WG, is attached
as Annex III.
6. The participants agreed
that the major task of the international statistical activities in the
framework of the BSEC must be to provide the Working Groups in time with
comparable information.
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE
FRAMEWORK
7. Under agenda item 2, the
WG carried out an exchange of views concerning the legal and adminitrative
framework of statistical offices. The participating States gave detailed
information about their statistical infrastructure. The delegations of
Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece and Romania distributed texts related to their
national institutions and their national laws. Some countries explained
their difficulties in creating their own statistical institutions and stressed
the need of cooperation with other countries and international specialized
organizations.
RELATIONS WITH INTERNATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS
8. Under agenda item 3, the
WG underlined the need and usefulness of closer relations with international
institutions such as UN, EBRD, IBRD, IMF, OECD and EUROSTAT. This relationship
is especially needed for upgrading the regional statistical data to comply
with international standards. It was pointed out that possible duplication
should be avoided.
9. Under the same item, the
group noted that in relations with international institutions, by acting
under a regional identity, the participating States may further benefit
from and contribute to this relationship.
THE NEED AND CHANNELS
FOR SHARING NATIONAL EXPERIENCES
10. All participants unanimously
agreed, under agenda item 4, that there was a need for the exchange of
statistical data and economic information and a way to channel this information
effectively. On this basis, the delegations expressed their will to cooperate
on a bilateral as well as on a regional level.
11. It was stressed that
this exchange should take place within the legal framework of each country
and that the privacy of information related to individuals and private
companies should be respected.
HARMONIZATION
12. In order to ensure data
comparability and to create the basis of a common economic language, the
participatings States, under agenda item 5, agreed on the need to harmonize
statistical methods and definitions and to utilize international classifications
in all their activities.
13. The Delegation of the
Russian Federation informed the WG that, with the aim of establishing a
data bank among the BSEC Participating States in order to organize collection,
processing and distribution of statistical data, the State Statistics Committee
of the Russian Federation had the possibility to offer the services of
its Main Data and Analytical Computer Center and pointed out that finacing
of this activity could be met through Russia's obligations of investments
in the other fields of BSEC activities.
CONCLUSION
14. After having discussed
the first five items on the agenda, the delegations agreed on the necessity
at a regional level for :
- a system of exchange of
statistical data and economic information,
- the compilation of data,
- the realization of common
projects,
- representation under a
regional identity in the international fora,
- a technical assistance
program,
- a joint program for the
harmonization of statistical methods and definitions and the use of international
classification mainly in the following areas :
* national accounts
* industrial statistics
* price statistics
* foreign trade statistics
* transportation and communications
statistics
* agriculture and agro-industry
statistics
* environment statistics
including the ecological problems of the Black Sea
* social and demographic
statistics
- a work program for future
activities.
The Participating States
welcomed the proposal of the State Institute of Statistics (SIS) of Turkey
to create within its body a small unit which will be in charge of the regional
cooperation on the above mentioned matters. They also asked SIS to prepare
a draft activity program and a statute of a common body, whose expenses
would be covered by the SIS. This draft will be circulated by the Secretariat
of the BSEC in the first half of November 1992 and discussed at the following
meting of the WG.
LEGISLATIVE INFORMATION
15. The Romanian Delegation
expressed the readiness of Romania to host a center for legislative information
and comparative law and promised to give detailed information on this proposal
at the next WG meeting.
16. The Bulgarian Delegation
suggested a step-by-step approach through the involvement of national centers
for legislative information and the creation of a special "task force"
on this subject.
17. The Participating States
will wait for the further development of the proposals made by the Bulgarian
and Romanian Delegations, possibly with the support of any other Participating
Staes interested in this subject.
EXPRESSION OF THANKS
18. The participants expressed
their gratitude to the Turkish organizers for the warm hospitality extended
to them during the Meeting.
NEXT MEETING
19. The WG agreed to hold
its next meeting in Athens, Greece, in the second half of March 1993.
ADOPTION OF THE REPORT
20. The WG adopted the present
report for submission to the Meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
REPORT
OF THE MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP
ON
EXCHANGE OF STATISTICAL DATA AND
ECONOMIC
INFORMATION
Athens,
30-31 March 1993
1. The meeting of the Working
Group on Exchange of Statistical Data and Economic Information (WG) of
the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) was held in Athens on 30-31 March
1993.
2. The Meeting was chaired
by Prof. E. Kontopyrakis, General Secretary of the National Statistical
Service of Greece.
3. The Meeting was attended
by the following Participating States of the BSEC:
Republic of Albania
Republic of Bulgaria
Republic of Georgia
Republic of Greece
Republic of Moldova
Romania
Russian Federation
Republic of Turkey
Ukraine
Poland attended the Meeting
as an observer.
The list of participants
of the Meeting is attached as Annex I*.
4. The WG discussed and adopted
the draft agenda of the Meeting. The agenda, as adopted by the WG, is attached
as Annex II.
STATISTICAL COUNTRY FILES
AND TRADE DATABASE
5. As agenda items 2, 3,
4 and 5 were interrelated, the WG decided to take them up simultancously.
Fallowing comprehensive deliberations on the modalities of the cooperation
which is expected for the exchange of statistical data and economic information,
the WG agreed upon the fallowing main points:
- The delegations have concluded
that the flow of statistical information, is one of the imperatives to
ensure successful cooperation in the BSEC. To this end, the WG set forth
as the medium term objective, the provision of comparable and reliable
data at internationally accepted standards. As for the short-term objective,
sub-systems to initiate and handle the flow of information in each participating
State may be established in order to supply information in the shortest
time possible to other Working Groups of the BSEC and to the decision makers.
- The WG, while agreeing
in principle upon the necessity to establish a trade information system
suitable to the requirements of the Participating States, emphasized the
need for defining the elements to be contained in such an information system.
As an initial step, the unit within the State Institute of Statistics of
Turkey, established in accordance with the decision of the Meeting of the
Ministers of Foreing Affairs of the BSEC which was held on 10 December
1992 in Antalya, shall prapare a questionnaire for the putpose of establishing
the trade information system, and distribute it to the Participating States
by 15 May 1993. Following consultations with the data users in the respective
countries, the Participating States will transmit the required information
and comments to the aforementioned unit within the State Institute of Statistics
of Turkey not later than 30 June 1993.
- With the aim of creating
country files which may give a new impetus to the cooperation within the
BSEC and to meet the immeiate data requirements, the Participating States
shall fill out the questionnaire submitted by the unit and distributed
as Secretariat Document (BS/SE/WG(93)3), and return it, along with their
suggestions, by 15 MAY 1993.
STATISTICAL HARMONIZATION
MATTERS AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
6. Considering the items
6 and 7 of the agenda together, the WG exchanged views on the statistical
harmonization matters and multiple training opportunities for the staff
of the statistical organizations of the Participating States will provide
a list of the subjects given the priority for determining the training
programmes. It was suggested to explore possible ways of conducting such
training programs, including workshops, training courses and sending experts
to the receiving national statistical institutions. The EUROSTAT was mentioned
as the particular organization that has expressed its intention to provide
financial support for statistical training activities. It was also suggested
that the Participating States explore ways and means for obtaining similar
support from other international organizations for common training purposes.
THE UNIT ESTABLISHED WITHIN
THE STATE INSTITUTE OF STATISTICS OF TURKEY
7. Under agenda item8, any
additional business, the WG agreed to include a specific item on the agenda
of the next meeting regarding the functions as well as the name of the
unit which was established within the State Institute of Statistics of
Turkey.
8. The WG also decided to
include another item on the agenda of the next meeting to discuss the questionnaires.
DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS
9. It was agreed that the
Participating States submit all the documents to the aforementioned unit
as well as to all other Participating States.
EXPRESSION OF THANKS
10. The participants expressed
their gratitude to the Greek organizers for the warm hospitality extended
to them during the Meeting.
NEXT MEETING
11. The WG agreed to hold
its next meting on 5-6 October 1993 in Ankara.
ADOPTION OF THE REPORT
12. The WG has adopted the
present report.
REPORT
OF THE MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP
ON
EXCHANGE OF STATISTICAL DATA AND
ECONOMIC
INFORMATION
Ankara,
5-6 October 1993
1. The Meeting of the Group
on Exchange of Statistical Data and Economic Information (WG) of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) was held on 5-6 October 1993 in Ankara.
2. The Meeting was attended
by the following Participating States of the BSEC :
Republic of Albania
Republic of Azerbaijan
Republic of Bulgaria
Republic of Georgia
Republic of Greece
Romania
Russian Federation
Republic of Turkey
Ukraine
Poland attended the Meeting
as an observer.
The list participants of
the Meeting is attached as Annex I*.
3. The Meeting was chaired
by Prof. Orhan GÜVENEN, President of the State Institute of Statistics
of the Republic of Turkey.
4. The WG discussed and adopted
the draft agenda of the Meeting. The agenda, as adopted by the WG, is attache
as Annex II.
REVIEW OF THE COUNTRY
FILES
5. Under agenda item 2, the
Participating States expressed their appreciation for the work done on
country files by the statistical unit established at the State Institute
of Statistics of Turkey. They all accepted the usefulness of country files
distributed at the Meeting despite the difficulties faced by some of them
in completing the questionnaire.
6. The WG agreed on the need
to harmonize, taking into account the standards of the international organizations,
the definitions, classifications, methodology and the units of measures
used in completing the questionnaires by the Participating States for better
comparability. It was also pointed out that the requirements of the users
should be taken into account in collection data from the Participating
States.
7. The Participating States
agreed to review their own country files making necessary corrections,
and to return them to the statistical unit. The statistical unit will then
finalize the country files and distribute them to the Participating States.
8. The WG decide that the
form of questionnaire revised by the unit will be completed for 1993 and
returned to the unit by the Participating States annually or quarterly
depending on the frequency of the data requested.
WAYS AND MEANS OF DATA
TRANSFORMATION
9. Noting the importance
of transforming the data country files to the users to facilitate the development
of bilateral nd multilateral cooperation in the region, the Participating
States concluded that exchange of publications of statistical data and
economic information, distribution of the country files, construction of
tables from the country files according to the needs of the users are some
of the ways and means available to the Participating States.
PROGRESS IN THE COMPUTERIZED
TRADE INFORMATION SYSTEM (CTIS)
10. In accordance with the
decision taken by the WG in its previous meeting and endorsed by the Second
Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (MMFA), Summary Tables for Questionnaires
on CTIS, Questionnaire for Data Collection on CTIS Databases, Database
Application Development Methodology and E-R Diagram, Database Structure
and Sample Queries for CTIS Prototype Database were presented to the WG
by the statistical unit. The major objective of the work was stated as
the development of an on-line Trade Information System between the Participating
States following an evolutionary approach, considering the hardware/software
size, user access and cost issues. The responsibility of the filling up
and updating of the questionnaires for data collection on firms for the
CTIS Databases belongs to the Working Group on Trade and Industrial Cooperation.
The Participating States welcomed the work done by the unit and indicated
their willingness to cooperate further in the development and operation
of this system.
FUNCTIONS AND NAME OF
THE STATISTICAL UNIT
11. Under agenda item 5,
the Working Group decided that the name of the unit established within
the State Institute of Statistics of Turkey be "The BSEC Coordination Center
for the Exchange of Statistical Data and Economic Information" having the
functions as enumerated in the Report of the WG (BS/SE/WG/R(92)1) and endorsed
by the First MMFA. This proposal was adopted by majority vote. The proposal
made by Romania as "BSEC Office for Exchange of Statistical Data and Economic
Information" was supported by the Republic of Bulgaria and Republic of
Greece.
COOPERATION WITH OTHER
SUBSIDIARY BODIES
12. Under agenda item 6,
the WG agreed that it is duty and responsibility of this WG to enhance
coordination and collaboration with the other Subsidiary Bodies of the
BSEC, particularly the Working Group on Trade and Industrial Cooperation,
the Working Group on Transport on Transport and Communications and the
Working Group on Agriculture and Agro-Industry.
13. In keeping with this
instructions of the second MMFA, the WG will exert best efforts to meet
the statistical data and economic information requirements of aforementioned
Working Groups as well of the other Subsidiary Bodies of the BSEC.
ADOPTION OF THE REPORT
14. The Working Group adopted
the present report for submission to the next MMFA.
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