The Ministry of Defence implements and coordinates functions of regulatory, administrative, organizationa/, financial, technical and industriai nature associateciated to generaI planning of the military assets, part of the so-called "Technical-Administrative Area", availing itself of a specific organization, consisting of the Secretariat General of Defence/National Armaments Directorate (SGD/NAD) and 10 General Directorates. In general, the competence of the Technical-Administrative Area concems management of civilian and military personnel, armaments policy, coordination of research and development in the sectors of interest to Defence, relations with the national defense industry, production and procurement of weapon systems and equipment, international cooperation and agreements. The organization's dual title - Secretariat General of Defence and National Armaments Directorate - indicates that its tasks are inherent to two distinct sectors: • One of a mainly administrative nature, relative to Ministry of Defence personnel (civilian and military) matters, administrative and contractual procedures, regulatory and juridical aspects, accounting control, informatization and reorganization of the Ministry's technical-industrial area; • One of a mainly technical nature, involving research and development activities, procurement of materials and equipment far the Armed Forces, relations with national defence industry, international cooperation far armaments and relations with corresponding Agencies that handle the same tasks in friendly and allied countries, and/or in the specific international fora (DGA, DPA, BWB, FMV, CNAD, OCCAR, Lol, European Defence Agency, etc.).