UNIS/OUS/RI/009
24 June 2009
Re-issued as received
UNIDO joins Enhanced Integrated Framework to support aid for trade initiative for least developed countries
VIENNA, 24 June (UN Information Service) - UNIDO signed an agreement in Vienna today to join the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) which assists in the coordinated delivery of trade-related technical assistance for the needs of least developed countries (LDCs). UNIDO will make an essential contribution through its expertise in the area of trade capacity building.
The partnership agreement was signed by UNIDO Director-General, Kandeh K. Yumkella, the Chairman of the EIF Board, A.M. Maruping, the Executive Director of the EIF Secretariat, Dorothy Tembo, and the Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Bernard Schlachter.
The Aid for Trade initiative was launched at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong in 2005. It was designed to help developing countries expand their trade and benefit from WTO agreements. The initiative recognizes the importance of supply side capacity building as an essential component of trade development.
In order to address factors underlying successful trade and supply side capacity building, UNIDO has adopted a holistic approach that takes into account the whole 'product to market' chain. It has dubbed this its "3C" approach: compete, conform, connect. The first two links, 'compete' and 'conform', are at the core of UNIDO's mandate and address, respectively, the capacity shortfalls of supply and proof of conformity with standards. The third link, 'connect', addresses shortfalls in connecting to the market and is primarily the domain of other EIF development partners. Following the 2007 LDC Ministerial Conference in Vienna, UNIDO with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) designed and formulated pilot supply-side support programmes for eight least developed countries.
The partnership between UNIDO and EIF shows that the Aid for Trade initiative is moving towards implementation of concrete projects in line with the national priorities of the least developed countries.
UNIDO was welcomed as an implementing partner and granted observer status at the meeting of the EIF Interim Board on 14 May.
The six core agencies of the EIF are: IMF, ITC, UNDP, UNCTAD, World Bank, and WTO. UNOPS was selected as the Managing Agent of the EIF Trust Fund, which currently stands at USD 64.5 million.
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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
