VIENNA, 2 February 2021 - The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has organized the first peer learning session on the Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) for high-level representatives of current PCP countries and those interested in the PCP model. The session focused on stakeholder coordination, partnerships and resource mobilization, as well as the establishment of industrial parks as key to advancing inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) within the framework of the PCP.

During the session, UNIDO Director General, LI Yong, stressed that "the most important elements of the PCP model are strong government leadership, a strong coordination mechanism with the participation of the public and private sector, and a multi-stakeholder partnership; these are imperatives for advancing ISID.”

“Having this opportunity to share experiences, examples and lessons learned among PCP countries, in my view, will help enhance the Programmes’ effectiveness in the future,” said Li.

The workshop was a direct response to Member States’ wishes to exchange experiences and learn from each other on the PCP approach, further emphasized through a resolution adopted at the eighteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in November 2019. It was attended by, among others, representatives of Permanent Missions and governments from all the PCP countries − Cambodia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Peru, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia –with an online audience of 500 participants.

Government representatives from the first PCP pilots, Ethiopia and Senegal, presented their experience and success factors throughout the implementation phase, with a particular focus on flagship projects. Other PCP countries were also invited to share their experiences through concrete examples, and engage in Q&A with the panellists.

Teka Gebreyesus, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Trade and Industry, underlined his government’s commitment and determination to institutionalize and mainstream the PCP, its approach and its lessons. He said, “The PCP Ethiopia is a resounding success. In its quest to build an industrial economy, the Government of Ethiopia is aware of the indispensable role that partners, especially UNIDO, can play in the future as the repository of technical know-how and expertise in this sector.”

Representing Senegal, Adama Ndiaye from the Ministry of Industrial Development and Small and Medium Industries noted that the PCP has set up a mechanism for public-private dialogue and helped to mobilize technical and financial partners for industrial parks and special economic zones (SEZs), namely through feasibility studies. “The PCP is an accelerator of the industrialization process. It has enabled Senegal to have a project portfolio of 27 industrial parks and SEZs, as each agro-pole to be established will have at least four industrial parks within it.”

Sharing Cambodia’s experience, Chea Kok Hong from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, discussed some of the challenges and lessons learned in the development of Sihanoukville, one of Cambodia’s largest SEZs.

Representing one of the newer PCP countries, Egypt, Abir El-Saady from the Ministry of Trade and Industry noted that the PCP approach is unique as it follows the whole-of-government approach. Similarily, Juana Rosa Ana Balcázar Suárez of the Ministry of Production of Peru, highlighted the PCP’s alignment with national development policies, as well as the important element of inter-ministerial coordination.

Côte d’Ivoire added its perspective as Emmanuel Tra Bi from the Ministry of Trade and Industry described the PCP’s coordination mechanism, and emphasized that the new PCP is being developed in line with the country’s new development plan for 2021-2025 and the new United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for that same period.

Mushuma Mulenga from the Government of Zambia and Taoufiq Moucharraf from the Government of Morocco also took the floor to provide insights on their countries’ national development priorities in relation to the PCP, as well as the importance of having a  contingency plan in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to PCP representatives, UNIDO experts contributed their views and technical expertise to the session, including on the country diagnostic, a key component of PCP development and the identification of priority sectors and areas. The Organization will facilitate additional peer learning sessions in 2021 and beyond, expanding on the experience-sharing countries, topics and participants.

For more information about the session, including the speakers’ presentations, visit the event page here.

For additional information, please contact:

ZHAO Jie, UNIDO Industrial Development Officer and Coordinator for South-South and Triangular Cooperation

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VIENNA, 2 December 2020 – While Africa has been spared the worst health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the continent’s 1.2 billion people are still at high risk.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have designed a programme to improve the ability of countries in Africa to protect their healthcare, industrial and other workers by reducing the risk of exposure to and transmission of COVID-19.

The Government of Germany, represented by Gerhard Küntzle, Permanent Representative of Germany to UNIDO, today met with the UNIDO Director General, LI Yong, to sign a funding arrangement to support this joint UNIDO-WHO programme. Germany will finance an enabling kick-off project with €1 million.

The kick-off project will include actions to set-up the best programme governance, to identify the needed partnerships, to define main strategies and to pilot approaches and tools. These interventions will contribute to the overall programme development objective of improving the supply of quality-assured, locally manufactured personal protective equipment (PPE), hand sanitizer and disinfectants to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in Africa and improve the response capacity of national health care systems on the continent.

For more information, contact:

Riccardo Savigliano, Chief of the Agro-Industries and Skills Development Division, UNIDO

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Kai Bethke, Director of the Department of External Relations, UNIDO

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VIENNA, 13 March 2020 –The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Government of the Republic of Albania have agreed a comprehensive programmatic framework to achieve inclusive and sustainable industrial development over the next five years. The Country Programme (CP) for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) in Albania 2020-2024 includes around twenty project proposals in three priority areas: industrial competitiveness and market access; productive employment and entrepreneurship development; and sustainable energy for productive uses and environmental management.

The CP was signed by Permanent Representative of the Republic of Albania to the International Organizations in Vienna, Ambassador Igli Hasani and UNIDO’s Director General, LI Yong, at UNIDO Headquarters.

Permanent Representative Hasani welcomed the signing of the first Country Programme Framework as a step forward in the cooperation between the Albanian Government and UNIDO. He highlighted that the identified components are well aligned with the Albanian priorities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and appreciated the fact that the CP is gender-mainstreamed. He reaffirmed the Albanian side will further develop technical cooperation with UNIDO in the framework of the new CP.

UNIDO’s Director General Li said, “The signed programme opens up new opportunities to be seized in support of ISID in Albania. Realization of a full-fledged resource-mobilization strategy and engagement with multilateral and bilateral donors are important prerequisites for its successful implementation. UNIDO, together with the Government of Albania will continue to work closely towards CP’s upscaling.”

UNIDO is currently implementing two technical cooperation projects in Albania to ensure compliance with the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer by phasing out the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons and reducing their negative impacts on human health and the environment. Another UNIDO project strives to transform the market for using organic waste from olive oil production and other industries for energy generation (see: Bioenergy that is good for business).

The proposed UNIDO technical cooperation projects focus on such key areas as competiveness of export-oriented industries through industrial modernization and upgrading; fostering innovation eco-systems and digital transformation; upgrading the competitiveness of agri-food value chains; and eco-industrial parks development.

The Country Programme for Albania is expected to be officially launched in Tirana in the first half of 2020.

For more information, please contact:

Solomiya Omelyan

UNIDO Regional Division – Europe and Central Asia

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More information on UNIDO’s Country Programmes for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development here.

ABU DHABI, 5 November 2019 – The Abu Dhabi Declaration was adopted today, on the third day of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) General Conference, marking an important milestone for the Organization.

In his statement, UNIDO Director General LI Yong said, “Today, I am extremely pleased to witness another defining moment for our Organization. With the adoption of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, you not only make a strong statement in support of multilateralism and international cooperation. You also emphasize two issues of critical importance in the near future.”

“First, you clearly highlight the important role of the private sector in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Secondly, with the Abu Dhabi Declaration you draw attention to the emergence of frontier technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which raise concern due to their disruptive potential but which, more importantly, offer tremendous opportunities to advance economic growth and human well-being, and to safeguard the environment.”

The Abu Dhabi Declaration builds on the Organization’s mandate to advance inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) around the world, a mandate set out in the Lima Declaration adopted at the 15th session of the General Conference in 2013 in Peru. This was a pivotal moment for UNIDO in the era to follow the Millennium Development Goals, and also as the foundation for the development of a dedicated sustainable development goal on industry: SDG 9.

“I would like to thank the United Arab Emirates for having proposed and prepared this important text. I thank all delegations for their contributions, for their support to reach a consensus on this Declaration, and for their unwavering support to poverty eradication and climate change mitigation through inclusive and sustainable industrial development,” Director General Li concluded.

The UAE Minister of Energy and Industry, Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, added: “Together with all of you, we will start a new chapter of delivery, and we will work with UNIDO, as the United Arab Emirates, for the benefit of all Member States. We would need you, especially from major industrial countries, to help us with that new chapter, where we engage with the private sector in projects that are targeting development in many of the countries, especially in Africa where we provide jobs and a future for the new generations.”

The General Conference showcases successful partnerships and other achievements with a focus on today’s most relevant topics for Member States, including gender, circular economy, youth and entrepreneurship, industry 4.0, industrial parks, and sustainable energy.

It is the Organization’s supreme policymaking organ where its Member States meet to determine guiding principles and policies as well as to approve the budget and work programme. Following sessions in Thailand in 1987, Cameroon in 1993, and Peru in 2013, this is the fourth time since becoming a Specialized Agency that the UNIDO General Conference takes place away from the Organization’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

Find out more about the event here.

Take a tour of the General Conference’s virtual exhibition here.

For more information, please contact:

Sayaphol Sackda

Officer in Charge

UNIDO Advocacy and Media Relations Division

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DA NANG, 29 June 2018 – A UNIDO delegation led by Director General LI Yong took active part in the Sixth Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly held between 23 and 29 June 2018 in Da Nang, Viet Nam. The event marks the beginning of the seventh replenishment of the GEF (GEF-7) – which has achieved donor pledges of US$4.1 billion for the next four-year cycle – and brought together environmental ministers and other senior officials from the GEF’s 183 member countries.

“Inclusive and sustainable industrial development enables UNIDO to target the drivers of environmental degradation with co-benefits such as increased economic growth, new jobs and shared prosperity. It is here that we see a strong alliance with the objectives of the GEF,” said Director General Li in his address to the Plenary. “Looking towards GEF-7, the Programming Directions demonstrate a shared vision for the future. Both UNIDO and the GEF understand that country ownership, robust partnerships and integrated solutions are driving forces for transformational change.”

UNIDO is currently implementing 200 projects in almost 80 countries, targeting all GEF focal areas by using the power of industry. During his statement, Li emphasized five key priority areas that will define the UNIDO-GEF partnership over the coming four years: clean energy innovation, sustainable cities, circular economy, elimination of mercury in the artisanal gold mining sector, and sustainable food systems.

Participating in a high-level roundtable on innovation in clean energy, DG Li reiterated UNIDO’s commitment to working with the GEF and Member States to accelerate the clean energy transition by promoting clean technology innovation and sustainable business model. “We will continue to work to strengthen capacities of startups and SMEs of developing and emerging economies to fully participate and benefit from the opportunities embedded in the clean energy transition, and to maximize the synergies between energy transition and industrial transformation.”

Li also participated in a roundtable discussion together with Ministers, private sector representatives and Convention Heads on “Preventing a toxic legacy: transforming the chemicals industry”.

UNIDO and its partners organized five side events during the Assembly on the topics which are central to the UNIDO-GEF partnership: cleantech innovation, energy access and supply, circular economy, sustainable food systems, and eco-industrial parks. The participation of national decision-makers provided an opportunity to start identifying areas of cooperation under GEF-7.

A site visit to the Eco-Industrial Park project in Da Nang was also organized to showcase how UNIDO’s technical assistance has helped local industries apply resource efficiency and cleaner production approaches to reduce their impact on the local environment while improving their productivity.

Find out more about DG Li’s activities in Viet Nam here.

Flick album – UNIDO at the Sixth GEF Assembly

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Related press release – UNIDO Director General LI Yong and other high-level representatives visit Da Nang eco-industrial park

For more information, please contact:

Juergen Hierold

Chief and GEF Coordinator

UNIDO Partnerships Coordination Division

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MANILA, 22 June 2018 – the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and high-level government representatives reaffirmed their commitment to the country’s industrialization goals by announcing the launch of the first UNIDO Country Programme for the Philippines. UNIDO Director General LI Yong’s official visit, which coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Basic Cooperation Agreement (BCA) signed between UNIDO and the Philippine Government in 1993, seeks to support the country’s renewed outlook on the industry sector, and on infrastructure as a key priority.

“Today, we celebrate a sterling partnership, with 25 years of collaboration and cooperation,” said LI Yong. “The Country Programme is proof of UNIDO’s continuing support for the Philippines and our common desire to achieve inclusive and environmentally-sustainable growth that will benefit all parts of society, with all people being given equal opportunities for prosperity.”

The Country Programme for the Philippines focuses on supporting inclusive, sustainable and innovation-led industrialization; fostering green and resilient industrial communities; and cultivating effective partnerships for inclusive and sustainable development. Ultimately, the Country Programme for the Philippines will seek to support the government’s efforts to revitalize manufacturing in selected sectors, and to develop the biotech industry.

UNIDO’s present portfolio in the Philippines covers the industry, energy, environment, and post-disaster economic recovery sectors. UNIDO’s innovations in greening industries and sustainable cities, circular economies, and sustainable consumption and production will also be continued under this Programme. The Programme will be implemented from 2018 to 2023.

Take a look at the DG's activities during his mission to the Philippines here.

For more information, please contact:

UNIDO Country Office - Philippines

Jillian Revadulla

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