Evaluation of technical cooperation programmes<br>EMPRETEC<br> Competition law and policy <br>Trade Points

The Trade and Development Board,

1. Expresses satisfaction with the strengthening of the evaluation process in UNCTAD by the integration, on a systematic basis, of both the logical framework approach and participatory evaluation, and encourages the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to continue in this direction;
2. Stresses the importance of the evaluation process in UNCTAD being adequately funded, using regular budget resources and extrabudgetary resources, and encourages the secretariat to consider building evaluation into the budgets of individual programmes where appropriate;

a) EMPRETEC

3. Welcomes the in-depth evaluation of the EMPRETEC Programme (TD/B/WP/129), commends the quality of the work undertaken by the evaluation team as well as the support provided by the secretariat and the country programmes in preparing the report, agrees with the recommendations contained therein, and urges the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to implement the recommendations and report on the implementation at the session of the Working Party in 2001 dealing with technical cooperation;
4. Stresses the necessity of implementing these recommendations in order to consolidate the EMPRETEC programme, which is a necessary condition to enhance its effectiveness;
5. Invites the secretariat, wherever resources allow, to enhance, after consolidation and improvement of the programme, the geographical coverage of the EMPRETEC Programme, in particular with respect to development of projects in Africa and Asia, and in this respect invites the secretariat to use to the maximum extent possible the national experiences existing in these regions as well as in Latin America;
6. Invites the secretariat to strengthen its cooperation with other organizations and entities dealing with entrepreneurship so as to take full benefit of potential synergies;
7. Requests the UNCTAD secretariat to improve the dissemination of information on the EMPRETEC Programme and to inform Geneva-based delegations of the organization of the annual meetings of EMPRETEC directors;

b) Follow-up to evaluations

i) Competition law and policy

8. Takes note of the progress report on the implementation of the recommendations arising from the evaluation of the programme of technical cooperation activities on competition law and policy (TD/B/WP/130) and invites the secretariat to pursue the implementation of those recommendations;

ii) Trade Points

9. Takes note of the document "Implementation of the Trade Point Programme Strategy: Progress report" (TD/B/WP/128) and the document “Transfer of the ETO system to a non-profit entity" (TD/B/WP(XXXVI)/CRP.1);
10. Supports the establishment of a fully representative international Trade Point federation (ITPF), in accordance with the Trade Point Programme strategy approved at the thirty-fourth session of the Working Party;
11. Requests the secretariat to prepare a document elaborating details with regard to option 1, transfer of the ETO system to an ITPF, for the information of the members of the Working Party before the end of October 2000;
12. Requests the secretariat to begin immediately the tendering process, in conformity with the United Nations Financial Regulations and Rules, for the transfer of the ETO system to a suitable non-profit entity, specifying the possibility of a transfer of the ETO system to the ITPF when it has been established;
13. Requests the secretariat to further consult with Trade Points at the World Trade Point Directors Meeting in November 2000 regarding the transfer of the ETO system to the ITPF;
14. Reaffirms its decision that the secretariat should proceed with the implementation of the Trade Point Programme strategy in the timeframe agreed;
15. Encourages donor countries to make available extrabudgetary resources for capacity-building projects aiming to achieve this objective, as contained in the approved strategy;
16. Requests the secretariat to report to the autumn session of the Working Party in the year 2001 on the progress made in the implementation of the strategy, including on the work undertaken and to be undertaken, as well as on the strategy’s financial aspects;

c) Technical cooperation at the mid-term review

17. Requests the secretariat to extend the logical framework approach to all projects, to ensure that the required information will be available for examination at the mid-term review;

d) Future evaluation

18. Decides that an in-depth evaluation of the TRAINMAR Programme will be considered at the session of the Working Party in 2001 dealing with technical cooperation.

917^th plenary meeting
20 October 2000