Luxembourg, 17/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - The "Agence Française de Développement" (AFD), a specialised financial institution with responsibility for overseas development, and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have announced their decision to provide financial support and expertise to the Enterprise Development Fund set up by the Guadeloupe Region. The new fund, financed by the two institutions to the tune of EUR 76.22 million, will be deployed in support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Guadeloupe in what are considered to be priority sectors by the public authorities and their financial counterparts. These include key components of the local economy - tourism, local and regional development, health - and emerging and growth sectors such as IT and agribusiness. The clear purpose of this fund is to trigger a powerful development dynamic aimed at sustaining and boosting employment through support for activities generating local value added. It will complement bank lending and other instruments - regional equity fund, guarantee fund, venture capital company - set up by the Region and its financial partners in order to meet the financing requirements of target sectors swiftly. This initiative underpins the efforts made by local, national and Community authorities under the Contractual Plan concluded between the State and the Guadeloupe Region and the 2000-2006 Single Programming Document (SPD), the main thrust of which is to promote enterprise development. A tripartite framework agreement between the Guadeloupe Region, the AFD and the EIB will set out the fund's eligibility criteria and the practical financing arrangements. The Region has adopted Fund Rules intended for final beneficiaries. It will establish a committee that will decide on allocations following the appraisal of dossiers by an independent body. The application of funds will be monitored by the AFD for its own account and as the EIB's local representative. According to the Region's projections, the fund will be deployed over a four-year period.