The Brussels Summit of the Group of Seven (G7) countries announced the launch of the Strengthening Assistance for Complex Contract Negotiations (CONNEX) initiative, which aims to provide developing countries with "extended and concrete expertise for negotiating complex commercial contracts." The initial focus of the initiative will be on the extractives sector, and will include the development of a central resource hub.
9 June 2014: The Brussels Summit of the Group of Seven (G7) countries announced the launch of the Strengthening Assistance for Complex Contract Negotiations (CONNEX) initiative, which aims to provide developing countries with “extended and concrete expertise for negotiating complex commercial contracts.” The initial focus of the initiative will be on the extractives sector, and will include the development of a central resource hub.
According to the G7 Summit Declaration, the Group also commits to working toward common global standards that raise extractives’ transparency, ensuring disclosure of companies’ payments to all governments. The Declaration welcomes progress in this regard, including the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
According to the US Government, CONNEX was developed in response to requests from the African Union and other developing countries. G7 leaders have committed to centralizing resources to connect countries in need of assistance with assistance providers. Its eventual goal is to develop “rapid response teams to provide contract negotiation assistance to developing countries” when needed.
The CONNEX platform will be launched on 17 June, in association with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment at Columbia University. [Brussels G7 Summit Declaration] [US White House Fact Sheet] [IISD RS Story on G7 Summit]