The Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund for Economic and Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (PGTF) was established by the United Nations in accordance with General Assembly resolution 38/201 of 20 December 1983, which provided for the liquiditation of the United Nations Emergency Operation Trust Fund and the allocation of its remaining balance.

The PGTF is a fund established for the purpose of supporting activities in economic and technical cooperation among developing countries (ECDC/TCDC) of critical importance to developing countries members of the Group of 77, in order to achieve national or collective self-reliance, according to the priorities set by them. It is named after the late Manuel Perez-Guerrero and its funds are channeled through the United Nations Development Programme, following the approval by the Group of 77.

The objective of the PGTF is to provide seed money for (i) financing pre-investment/feasibility studies/reports prepared by professional consultancy organizations in developing countries members of the Group of 77; and (ii) facilitating the implementation of projects within the framework of the Caracas Programme of Action on ECDC.

Projects utilizing the PGTF should be of such a nature that they lead to balanced and general benefits for the member countries of the Group of 77.

These projects should be designed so as to have a maximum multiplier effect, and in the case of regional projects, serve as pilot projects for other regions. In this context, projects which are purely national in nature will not qualify for funding. Also, bilateral projects will not be eligible.

The Fund should not be used as a substitute for resources available to the United Nations agencies for undertaking activities in favour of economic cooperation among developing countries.

Any project, in order to be considered for PGTF assistance must necessarily have an ECDC or TCDC component, i.e. any activity which involves deliberate and voluntary sharing, pooling or exchange of economic or technical resources, knowledge, experience, skills and capabilities between three or more developing countries for their individual or mutual development.

Before submitting project proposals to the PGTF, governmental and non-governmental organizations, subregional and regional institutions of developing countries should obtain approval of their respective governing bodies and countries involved in the project. Project proposals should be channelled through the host countries designated national focal points for ECDC/TCDC.

Projects submitted are examined by a committee of six experts and if found appropriate are recommended for financing. The experts are selected for a three-year term, three of them -one from each region - would be replaced every year.

The projects that are selected should not duplicate existing projects in developing countries and should make optimum use of capacities which already exist in developing countries at the national, regional and inter-regional levels.

Proposing organizations and institutions may submit no more than one(1) project proposal per annum for funding from the PGTF.

All project proposals submitted to PGTF should include inputs from other sources of an amount at least equal to the resources requested from PGTF. These inputs should be secured by the sponsors prior to submission of the proposal to PGTF.

The financial support given to any project proposal in a given year cannot exceed one-fifth of the total resources available to PGTF for that year. The Office of the Chairman of the Group of 77 will inform at the beginning of each calendar year the corresponding availability of resources.

The deadline for submission of project approvals should be the last day of April of each year, so that the necessary consultations between the experts, the Office of the Chairman of the Group of 77, governments, organizations and institutions submitting proposals should take place, so as to improve and expedite the process of examination of projects as well as to avoid duplication with the existing activities.

The regular meeting of the Committee of Experts is scheduled to take place between 1 July and 15 August of each year, and if necessary, the Chairman of the Group of 77, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee of Experts may convene an extraordinary meeting of the Committee.