On Monday 15 February the first ORIO Call for proposals for 2010 has been opened. The Call will close on 26t April 2010 at 17.00 CET. 

ORIO (Facility for Infrastructure Development) is a grant facility funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the responsibility of the Minister of Development Cooperation  to encourage public private partnerships in infrastructure development in developing countries. 

ORIO provides grant funding throughout the entire project cycle including development, implementation (construction and/or renovation), operation and maintenance of public infrastructure projects. Total budget for ORIO is EUR 180 million per year. The maximum project amount is EUR 60 million, while the minimum is EUR 2 million. For the project development phase a grant of 50%, while for the implementation, operation and maintenance phase  a grant of 35% is available. The remaining project costs should be financed by the recipient government. The duration of the ORIO project can be up to ten years. 

ORIO focuses on a limited number of priority sectors per country. Macedonia is one of the countries that can make use of ORIO. The priority sectors for ORIO in Macedonia that were selected in a consultation with the national authorities are water, environment and social services, including health and education. The Secretariate for European Affairs (SEA) coordinates ORIO applications from Macedonia on behalf of the Macedonian government.   

ORIO Facility is administered by EVD (the Netherlands Foreign Trade Promotion Agency). For more information, see the website of NL EVD International,  www.agentschapnl.nl.

All ORIO related information, brochures and folders and the updated ORIO application form are made available also on the ORIO website:  www.orio.nl