NEW YORK, December 18, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The US$ 5 million voluntary contribution to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), allocated last year by the Government of China, is being used to further technical cooperation, as well as advisory services, in Africa, Central Asia, and the Latin American and Caribbean region.
This is in line with UNIDO’s new focus on inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID), as well as activities relating to advancing South-South Cooperation.
In June 2013, when Li Yong was elected as Director General of UNIDO, China pledged to contribute US$ 5 million per year for the duration of 2013-2016 in support of the organization’s activities. Following consultations between UNIDO and the Government of China, it was agreed that the first US$ 5 million would be allocated in the following way:
US$ 1.5 million is currently being used to support UNIDO activities in the field of technical cooperation and advisory services for Africa, including for the preparation and execution of the two ISID forums held in Vienna in June and November, respectively, as well as for the development of Programmes for Country Partnerships for Ethiopia and Senegal.
Another US$ 1 million, allocated to UNIDO’s Latin American and Caribbean Trust Fund, is currently helping to finance three regional projects. The first one, for Brazil and Uruguay, will help improve regional value chains in such areas as robotic and artificial intelligence, automation and mechatronics, and 3D manufacturing. A second one will focus on a regional cooperation platform for industrial parks and special economic zones in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. And a third project for Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, and Nicaragua, will improve the productivity and competitiveness of shrimp value chains.
A further US$ 1 million is being spent on technical cooperation projects and advisory services in Central Asia, including on promoting the inclusive and sustainable industrial development approach along the Silk Road Economic Belt (with parallel funds from the Asian Development Bank) and industrial modernization and improved competitiveness of the carpet weaving and embroidery sector in Tajikistan (with possible co-funding envisaged from Russia).
Finally, around US$ 1.1 million has been deployed for integrating novel industrial analysis tools in order to identify and target emerging global market opportunities using UNIDO methodologies for industrial upgrading and enterprise development to attract investments and enhance exports as a means of increasing economic diversification. The new methodologies will be implemented in Ethiopia and Senegal as part of the Programmes for Country Partnerships.
All of the above programmatic forums and projects were designed to contribute to employment creation and poverty reduction in the respective regions.
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