How CNES gets involved

Departments crucial to CNES/CSG involvement in French Guiana

Depending on the assistance required, a range of CNES bodies may be called on and consult together to prepare appropriate responses for any given project .

·    The CNES/CSG Directorate vets all decisions, setting a policy for economic development aid with the CNES Board of Directors ;

·  The CNES/CSG Guiana Mission, which manages the CNES annex of the Operational Programme (previously known as the CPER-DOCUP), is responsible for promoting activities designed to assist development in French Guiana;

·  The Communication and External Relations directorate interfaces with the educational authority concerning the agreement signed with CNES, as well as with clubs and associations about grants and the free provision of resources (often involving logistical support);

·    The Heritage Management department oversees all aspects of cultural or historic importance at CNES/CSG;

·    The Procurement, Sales and Legal Affairs directorate follows up administrative and financial applications;

·    CNES/CSG experts provide support as necessary.

Assistance for diversifying the Region’s economic development

This is a major concern, achieved mainly through the CNES annex to the state-region contract plan (CPER), whose principal objective is to facilitate projects which may create jobs. Over 26 million euros were invested over the period 2000-2006, with 1,529 long-term jobs being created, well in excess of the original target of 1000.

Financial partnerships via the CNES annex have also contributed to the setting up of three new structures as aids to economic development, known as PFILs, ADIE and Alyse Guyane.

The mission of the three local initiative hubs (PFIL) in French Guiana (at Saint-Laurent du Maroni, Kourou and Cayenne) is to identify and support initiatives with a potential for job-creation by providing personal, interest-free loans with no guarantee required, as well as management advice for those starting small businesses, with a ceiling of €18,000.

ADIE, an economic initiative association, which has had an outpost in French Guiana since July 2003, is designed to enable people excluded from the traditional banking system to create their own jobs with the help of various loans, as appropriate (€5000 on average).

Last but not least, financial management advice is a welcome addition to the world of business in French Guiana. Two financial institutions, Alyse Guyane and Guyane Investissement, have been created with the French Guiana Region and Chamber of Commerce as principal partners, to provide businesses with extra capital for development. CNES/CSG sits on the investment committee that examines applications and as an observer on the board of Alyse Guyane which manages the funds.

Fostering an entrepreneurial attitude

CNES/CSG takes part in initiatives to foster an entrepreneurial attitude throughout the region, as in the Talents des Cités (‘Local Talents’) contest.

CNES/CSG worked with the Regional authorities and other partners to set up France’s first overseas business hub, the Guiana Technopole, of which the Director of CNES/CSG is the First Vice-President. Its mission is to help businesses start up, get off the ground and expand in a variety of sectors.

CNES/CSG also actively supports the French Guiana Tourism Committee, by subsidising its marketing and communication campaigns, sitting on its Board of Directors and participating in tourism trade fairs in French Guiana and mainland France. It also makes specific grants in support of events that promote French Guiana, such as the transatlantic rowing race, RAMES Guyane.

Support for local authority projects

CNES/CSG pursues a policy aimed at helping the local authorities in French Guiana achieve long-term economic, cultural and social development. To ensure the fair distribution of aid across the territory, agreements have been signed since 2000 with Cayenne, Matoury, Sinnamary, Kourou, Saint-Laurent du Maroni, Iracoubo, Roura, Montsinéry-Tonnegrande, Macouria and the Community of West-Guianese Communes. These ten agreements cover a total of sixteen communes out of the twenty-two in French Guiana. The resulting grants provide local authorities with a certain flexibility in their project management, leaving them the possibility of supporting clubs and associations. The €9 million made available over the last six years have made it possible to fund more than three hundred initiatives of all kinds, with the selection process remaining the responsibility of the local authorities.

NB: for structural projects, municipalities can also apply for subsidies covered by the CNES annex to the CPER.

Preserving the historic and cultural heritage

The Salvation Islands (Iles du Salut) have been CNES property since 1965, and many operations have been undertaken over the past twenty years to preserve their heritage and promote their historic value to French Guiana. The islands have now been listed as historic monuments and CNES continues to work alongside such partners as the Regional Cultural Affaires Directorate (DRAC).

As a part of the Cayenne housing improvement programme (OPAH), CNES/CSG has funded the renovation of forty traditional Creole houses, in partnership with the municipality of Cayenne, the national housing improvement agency (ANAH), the DRAC and the French Guiana Region.

On the Base itself, preparations for Soyuz have turned up tangible proof of human occupation of the site some 1200 years BC. In partnership with the DRAC and the National Institute for Preventive Archaeology, CNES/CSG funded the ensuing research, whose results have thrown new light on the history of the Amerindian communities in the area.

Planning and development

CNES initially acquired a coastal strip of 96,000 hectares (almost 350 square miles), mostly from the State and from individuals. The earliest constructions were 800 residences for the personnel seconded to the Base. CNES started to sell off property at the beginning of the 1970s, before implementing a real-estate policy for the sale of built-up or open land as its needs in land and facilities became better known. Kourou, and to a lesser extent Macouria, benefited significantly from the return of land on which they were able to build housing, small business zones, sporting and cultural facilities and also make more farmland available. When this real-estate policy is completed, in the near future, CNES/CSG will retain some 65,000 hectares (250 sq miles) and slightly over 300 houses in Kourou. Revenue from the sale of real estate is reinvested to improve CNES/CSG heritage sites, such as the renovation of 109 Koualis villas to start in 2007.

The CMCK, an association that became a private hospital

The Kourou Medico-Surgical Centre (CMCK) was set up by CNES/CSG in 1966 for the benefit of its own personnel and the population as a whole, before being handed over in December 2004 to the Red Cross which thus became sole operator and, as such, owner of the facilities and site. CNES/CSG continues to support the centre, however, through an investment agreement (€500,000/year) and a framework contract of technical assistance that gives the CMCK access to CNES/CSG expertise and logistical support.