The SECI Project Group met for the first time on December 2-3, 1997 in Vienna on the initiative of the SECI Coordinator. Austria had agreed to act as host country of this project, initially called the “Danube Recovery Program”, and coordination was to be carried out at the Water Department of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry. One of the major priorities set by the group was to develop an action plan for project financing with the cooperation of the finance ministries in the region, the International Financial Institutions and national financial institutions. The second meeting of the Project Group was held on October 22, 1998, in Vienna. Taking the results of the preparatory meeting into consideration, the Project Group suggested developing a program of national seminars aimed at strengthening the capabilities for financing municipal water and wastewater projects. The seminars were aimed at describing priority hot spots; identifying opportunities to solve associated problems and constraints related to policies, fiscal frameworks, political limitations and lack of investors; and how to expedite ongoing projects.

The first Seminar “Private Sector Participation in Water Supply and Sewerage Services in Romania and in Republic of Moldova” took place on June 17-18, 1999 in Bucharest. At that meeting 5 projects were presented and included in the list of SECI Priority Projects in the field of environment on October 4, 1999.

This project generated  several other activities related to cross-cutting transport and environmental issues such as the establishement of the Danube Transport Working Group, the initiation of facilitation activities concerning the foundation of the International Commission of the Sava River Basin, and specfic recovery activities within the TIsa RIver Basin. 

Cross-cutting issues of cooperation within the Danube River Basin are still part of the SECI activities for improvement of the various aspects of regional cooperation in this geographical area.