Greco Initiative - Green competitiveness

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU) BETWEEN THE "EGYPT NATIONAL CLEANER PRODUCTION CENTRE" AND THE REGIONAL ACTIVITY CENTRE FOR CLEANER PRODUCTION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN ACTION PLAN

1. Parties of MOU

The Egypt National Cleaner Production Centre (ENCPC) The Egypt National Cleaner Production Center (ENCPC) in Cairo, Egypt was established by the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in close cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), as a service provider to the Egyptian industry. It is an integral part of the programme for "Egypt’s Technology Transfer and Innovation Centers (ETTIC)" and at the same time it is part of UNIDO/UNEP network of National Cleaner Production Centres (NCPCs) and National Cleaner Production Programmes (NCPPs). The ENCPC aims at enhancing the competitiveness and the productivity of Egypt’s industry, promoting sustainable social advance in a way compatible with environmental protection through adoption of cleaner production practices and implementation of environmental sound technologies.

The Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production (CP/RAC) of the Mediterranean Action Plan

The Regional Activity Centre for Cleaner Production of the Mediterranean Action Plan, located in Barcelona Spain, was established in 1996 to promote sustainable patterns of production and consumption in The Mediterranean Region, focusing on cleaner production and pollution prevention, was nominated Stockholm Convention Centre for Stockholm Convention for 21 countries of the Mediterranean basin, (hereinafter "RAC/CP – Barcelona in Spain").

2. Scope of Cooperation

The ENCPC in Cairo , Egypt represented by Eng Hanan El Hadary, Director of ENCPC and RAC/CP- Barcelona, represented by Dr Virginia Alzina, Director of CP/RAC (hereinafter referred to as "the authorized representatives" ) have agreed on the following Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The parties mutually recognize the legal capacity of each other to authorize this document and

HEREBY AGREE ON

Setting up a strong cooperation framework between the ENCPC and the CP/RAC to promote the GRECO Initiative for Egyptian companies in the Mediterranean countries, specifically in Egypt and this will be mainly achieved through the following specific activities:

1. Transfer to the best practices to the Egyptian industry through the website of GRECO Initiative; even the tools to manage a specific industrial sectors for Egypt in order to disseminate locally to the private sector the advantages of GRECO INITIATIVE (Green Competitiveness).
2. Coordinate and cooperate on organizing the main GRECO Congress in Egypt and other Mediterranean countries , in order to raise awareness and to transfer experiences and know-how to Egyptian private sector
3. Promotion of GRECO initiative throughout the private sector: Brochures to SME, the GRECO Report with the analysis of 100 companies that have applied Cleaner Production (CP) and its results and other relevant materials.
4. Providing visibility and promotion in our website and in our partner’s website to those companies that have applied CP in EGYPT (e.g on ASCAME or BusinessMed and the National CP Centres).
5. Identification of one Egyptian company to participate in the biennial GRECO ceremony where he GRECO Scientific Committee will select the winning companies for the GRECO Award.
6. Promoting of success stories on cleaner production in Egypt for companies which implemented successfully the cleaner production practices. This promotion will be after one year of implementing cleaner production solutions through presenting these case studies in GRECO Annual Report that will be disseminated throughout UNEP-MAP.
7. Dissemination of CP/RAC activities and material among the Mediterranean Countries with specific reference to Egypt.
8. Exchange CP/RAC’s and ENCPC experts, data base to back up the success of GRECO Initiative .

The activities to be carried out for the implementation of this MOU will be set in a well defined plan within two months after the signature of this agreement. On the other hand, a follow-up committee will be set up, for with representatives from the relevant parties in Egypt supported by the CP/RAC to propose and, when necessary, discuss and agree on the activities that should be included in the working plan.

3- Duration of MOU

This MOU will be valid for a period of 3 years as of the date of signature and may be extended by written agreement of both parties.