Role of the G7 SIG Secretariat
As agreed by the G7 and Russia at the July 1993 G7 Tokyo Summit, the central purpose of the G7 Support Implementation Group (SIG) is to facilitate the effective implementation of G7 assistance to the Russian Federation, first, through promoting information sharing and necessary coordination among G7 countries; second, through communication and consultation with Russian organizations; and third, through consultation with international financial institutions and other countries involved in providing external assistance to Russia.
The G7 SIG Secretariat in Moscow serves as a flexible non-institutional technical secretariat for facilitating G7 and other donor information sharing and coordination, as a forum for discussion and exchange of experience and in some respects, as a technical secretariat for G7 Embassies on assistance implementation related issues. Its Donor Assistance Database (DAD) has become the main tool supporting these activities and has attracted interest from a range of Russian government agencies.
Role of the G7 SIG Secretariat
- Coordinator of collective G7 action on the taxation of assistance problem: the SIG secretariat has become the spearhead for achieving an effective legislative solution to the taxation of assistance problem; it coordinates G7 diplomatic action on this issue in Moscow under direction of the G7 Ambassadors and maintains regular contact with Russian officials on this issue;
- Central source of information on assistance to the Russian Federation: the SIG secretariat has developed and maintains a high quality information system on external assistance to Russia which has broad donor participation; it has attracted Russian Government interest at the federal and regional level and is regularly used by donors, implementors of assistance projects, chambers of commerce, business associations and research institutions. The current demand for information on assistance almost exceeds what the SIG secretariat can respond to directly;
- Resource center on assistance implementation problems: the SIG secretariat has become a clearinghouse and repository for information on implementation problems and is involved in ongoing efforts to streamline procedures to register, accredit and exempt implementors of assistance from taxes, duties and excessive red tape. It also provides important support for short-term advisors in the area of coordination and implementation problems;
- Facilitator of assistance coordination: the SIG secretariat has become a credible process facilitator, coordination mechanism and forum to bring together Russians and donors involved in the implementation of assistance to the Russian Federation. It has organized a sectoral roundtable on agricultural reform, and is organizing other roundtables on a range of issues including enterprise conversion, tax reform, capital markets and social sector reform.