Azerbaijan, Baku, 31 January / corr. Trend I. Khalilova / The European Commission has signed a regional program worth of 57.5 mln Euros with the Azerbaijani Government for 2006 which will function within the framework of the last budget of the TACIS program, Rufat Mammadov, the Executive Director of the European Commission's Coordinating Bureau on Technical Assistance Programs (TACIS) to Azerbaijan, said. The program was signed by Heydar Babayev, the national coordinator and the minister of the economic development of Azerbaijan.
According to Mammadov, the program covers all the CIS countries and includes nine projects in three directions, the management of the natural resources, the expansion of trade and investments, and justice and internal affairs as well.
Two projects will be carried out in accordance with the first direction; the projects include the assistance to the realization of Kyoto Protocol worth of 5 mln. Euros and the management of the basin of the Kur river (5 ml euros).
The second direction includes projects on the improvement of the investment climate in the country (worth €3mln.), institutional development of the Azerbaijani Economic Development (worth €3mln.), development of a system of professional technical education in the country (worth €3mln.), creation of a twinning-program for the country (worth €6.5mln.) and support in the implementation of the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan (PCA) with a budget of €3.5mln
The third direction includes the realization of the project to manage the borders with the CIS countries.