UNIS/OUS/RI/008
24 June 2009
Re-issued as received
UNIDO, ISO reinforce partnership for sustainable development
VIENNA, 24 June (UN Information Service) - The Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Kandeh K. Yumkella, and the Secretary General of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Rob Steele, signed a memorandum of understanding in Vienna yesterday.
UNIDO and ISO have a long and fruitful history of cooperation in promoting sustainable industrial development enabling developing countries to actively take part in the development and adoption of international standards, as well as helping their enterprises and institutions to apply and comply with standards and conformity assessment procedures. Their joint efforts in the field of standards have had a strong impact on increasing quality, productivity and safety, on fostering trade, productive and business linkages, as well as protecting consumers and the environment.
The new agreement is a response to the increasingly important role that standards play as policy mechanism and market tool for trade and sustainable development, including climate change mitigation. It also reflects the emerging new areas of collaboration in which shared objectives, functions and activities of the two organizations have become complementary.
The Secretary General of ISO delivered a keynote speech at the International Energy Conference in Vienna yesterday.
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UNIDO is a specialised agency of the United Nations system that works towards improving the quality of life of the world's poor by helping countries achieve sustainable industrial development. UNIDO views industrial development as a means of creating employment and income to overcome poverty. It helps developing countries and economies in transition to produce goods they can trade on the global market. It also helps provide the tools - training, technology, and investment - to make them competitive. At the same time, it encourages production processes that will neither harm the environment nor place too heavy a burden on a country's limited energy resources. UNIDO has 173 Member States and has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. More information is available at www.unido.org
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For further information, please contact:
George
Assaf
Spokesperson, UNIDO
Telephone: (+43-1) 26026-3849
Email:
g.assaf@unido.org
Website:
www.unido.org
