The National Investment Committee (NIC) –mandate, roles and responsibilities of NIC coordination framework and methodology

NIC framework has tree levels and they will serve as a basis for programming of all available financing sources (incl. national IPA and other donors).

• SWGs adopted on 68 Government session 31.03.2015
• The Government on its 78th session held on 08.06.2015 adopted the proposal for establishment of National Investment Committee (NIC) and Single Project Pipeline (SPP) for investment projects based on the Programme of the Government 2014-2018, IPA 1 and IPA 2 Operational Programmes.
• On the 87th Gov. session The Decision for establishment has been adopted

The main elements of the NIC framework are: (a) ownership, (b) transparency, (c) prioritisation and (d) structured EC/FIs participation.

(a)Ownership: national and highest political ownership is to be demonstrated by the periodic ratification and submission to the relevant bodies (EUD, WBIF, FIs, etc) for further processing of a Single List (of prioritised) Projects by a NIC.

(b)Transparency: the Line Ministries should prepare a single sector priority project pipeline. Important is the methodology applied to the project processing flow, the structured appreciation of set priorities, the decisions taken in the process and the consultation process with other actors, such as the Ministry of Finance and EUD, FIs, etc.

(c)Prioritisation: there are two levels of prioritisation. The first at the level of the LMs, where the single sector project pipeline is prioritised; the second prioritisation is at the level of NIC / MoF, where all the single sector priority project pipelines (from the LMs) are merged into the Single List of prioritised Projects. These priorities, need to be aligned with the national and EU priorities (country strategy papers, partnership agreements, etc)

(d) Structured EC/FI involvement: this NIC framework requires structured and efficient involvement of the EC and FIs. It should be in two levels: (1) at the moment of relative maturity of the Single Sector List of Prioritised Projects (single sector project pipeline) at the level of the LMs and (2) at the moment of ratification of the Single List of Prioritized Projects at the NIC/MoF or PM level.

Permanent members of the first level of NIC are:

• The deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs,
• The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
• The Deputy Prime Minister for Economic issues, and

The tasks of the first level of National Investment Committee are:

• Promotion of systemic planning of investments in the infrastructure and providing harmonization between different sources of funding (budget, credits and non-refundable funds);
• Coordination of activities related to the preparation of a Single Project list for the infrastructure;
• Presentation of the plans for realization of the projects defined in the Single Infrastructural Projects list, previously adopted by the Government, before the development partners, and reviewing proposals and opinions about the development partners related to proposed projects;
• Considering the different opportunities for financial support for preparation and implementation of the projects from the Single Infrastructural Projects list;
• Experts exchange of opinions between the representatives from the Macedonian side and the international institutions, in order to achieve greater coordination of both sides interested in funding investment projects;
• Discussions on topics related to the Single Infrastructural Projects list, monitoring the progress and achievements of each sectorial working group;
• Harmonization of the basic policy guidelines and adoption of conclusions, which shall be further monitored by the second and third level within the NIC structure;
• Harmonization and definition of modalities for funding the Single Projects list and
• Mobilizing resources for the sectors, in cooperation with SEA, and MF, the national and donor coordinators.

The second level – Technical working group of NIC shall be the fundamental creative and operational body, which shall formulate, promote and oversee the implementation of the sectorial approach of the concept design in practice. It shall be comprised of the following permanent members according to their position:

• The State secretary of the Secretariat for European Affairs – Chairperson;
• Representative from the Secretariat for European Affairs (2 members and 2 deputies);
• Representative from the Ministry of Finance (2 members and 2 deputies);
• Representative from the Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic issues (member and deputy), and
• Representative from the Office of the Prime Minister (member and deputy)

The Technical working group of NIC shall convene at least twice per year, and if necessary several times during the year.

The second level tasks of NIC are:

• Monitoring of the sectorial working groups for programming;
• Implementation of the decisions adopted by the Government and the adopted conclusions from the First level of NIC;
• Provision of leadership, consultations, guidelines and tasks for the sectorial working groups for programming, and their coordinators;
• Giving initiatives for promotion of the sectorial approach;
• Notifying the Government, the Deputy Prime Minister for EU affairs and the First level of NIC

The third level shall be comprised of the working groups for programming in the sectors: Transport, environment, energy, and the social sector. The working groups shall be essential on operationally implementation of the programming process, the creation of the sector lists of projects and shall provide feedback on the practical aspects to the upper levels.

The working groups shall convene at least once in a quarter, and if necessary several times during the year.

The third level tasks of NIC are as follows:

• Implementation of the sectorial planning on operational level for the relevant sector, providing harmonization between the development assistance with the national strategic priorities, in accordance with the Operational program of the Government;
• Assist planning the development priorities in the relevant sectors, and creation of Sectorial list of projects;
• Providing support for IPA programming process, which is coordinated by SEA;
• Regular monitoring of all strategies in the field and if necessary, proposing/initiating updates to the strategic programming framework;
• Implementation of tasks delegated by the Government of RM, the first and second level of NIC;
• Implementation of sectorial evaluation, in accordance with the received guidelines from SEA.

If necessary, the meetings on all levels of NIC, may be attended by representatives from the Delegation of the European Union, the offices of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Credit Bank for reconstruction – KfW, representatives from the European Investment Bank, and the Development Bank with the Council of Europe, as well as representatives of the bilateral creditors and donors active in the Macedonia.

For its work, the National Investment Committee has to inform the Government once a year, not later than the end of March in the current year for the previous one.

First meeting of the National Investment Committee was held on 29th June 2015 where the mandate, role and responsibilities of NIC coordination framework and methodology were represented in front of the high representatives from International Financial Institutions, bilateral partners and the donor community with a permanent mission Macedonia.

The second meeting of the National Investment Committee was held on 7th of December 2015. After 6 moth work and 18 workshops held by sector working groups from the transport, energy, environment and social sector the Single Project Pipeline List was represented in front of the International Financial Institutions and bilateral partners and the donor community with a permanent mission Macedonia.

On 07.12.2015, the Government of Republic Macedonia adopted the Single Project Pipeline list of infrastructure projects which you can find at the link below. 

Download document: Project Table (PDF)