UNIS/OUS/RI/023
4 December 2009

UNIDO General Conference to open in Vienna on Monday

VIENNA, 4 December (UN Information Service) - The General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) will open in Vienna on 7 December.

The five-day event will bring together Heads of State and Government, including the President of Iceland, the Prime Ministers of Kenya, Lesotho and Tanzania, and other high-level officials from around the world. Senior representatives of international organizations will also attend, including the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank Justin Yifu Lin.

This year, the event will have a thematic focus on "green industries" and the opportunities they offer for developing countries in the current economic circumstance. This will serve to highlight the role of industry in finding solutions to emerging and global challenges faced by these countries in achieving their developmental objectives within a framework of environmental sustainability.

The General Conference, UNIDO's highest policymaking organ, consists of all 173 Member States. It will re-appoint the Director-General for a period of four years, approve the programme and budgets and establish the scale assessments for regular budget expenditures for the forthcoming biennium.

Journalists are invited to the opening at 10:00, on Monday, 7 December, in the Plenary Hall, M Building, the Vienna International Centre, to be followed by a press conference at 12:45 in room MOE 71.

The press conference will feature the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, ASEAN Secretary-General, Surin Pitsuwan, and UNIDO Director-General, Kandeh K. Yumkella.

For more information on the General Conference, please go to http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=1000423

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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

Mikhail Evstafyev
Public advocacy and media specialist
Telephone: (+43 1) 26026-5021
Mobile: (+ 43) 650 391 5278
Email: m.evstafyev@unido.org