For information only - not an official document
UNIS/OUS/262
4 November 2014
Re-issued as received
VIENNA, 4 November (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) - Technical assistance, such as that delivered by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in many regions of the world, has already made a concrete impact on the ground and continues to be a crucial mechanism for enhancing development and progress. This was a view emphasized by participants at an international forum organized by UNIDO in Vienna today.
The two-day event, titled "Second UNIDO forum on partnerships to scale up investment for inclusive and sustainable industrial development", brings together around 440 participants from 93 countries, including heads of state and government, ministers, representatives of bilateral and multilateral development partners, the United Nations system, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and academia.
Li Yong, the Director General of UNIDO, said: "The promotion of inclusive and sustainable industrial development is a very clear mandate given by our Member States at the General Conference of UNIDO in Lima, Peru, last December. Since then, we have been implementing the new mandate in various ways, including by organizing this forum. Today we send a strong statement: technical assistance cannot remain isolated from the main forces that shape the course of progress in your countries. We have to combine our efforts to enhance the developmental impact of our endeavours. Together we will grow; the partnership will make us stronger."
"Strategic partnerships are the best response to increasingly complex development challenges. There is no single development strategy and no single actor that can address all of the social, environmental and economic challenges we are facing. Integrated and multi-actor responses are required to tackle problems like climate change, economic recovery, rising youth unemployment, conflict, and emerging problems such as global health pandemics," said Li.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the forum's opening that "the overarching imperative for our planet's future is sustainable development. We have a vision of a just world where resources are optimized for the good of people. Inclusive and sustainable industrial development can drive success."
Ban added that among the main areas of action, climate change presents an opening for inclusive and sustainable industrial development. "Smart governments and investors are exploring innovative green technologies that can protect the environment and achieve economic growth. For industrial development to be sustainable it must abandon old models that pollute. Instead, we need sustainable approaches that help communities preserve their resources," he said.
The UNIDO forum will closely examine and endorse new pilot partnership programmes for inclusive and sustainable industrial development in Ethiopia and Senegal. Experts from the Organization have visited the two countries in the course of the last months to take into account the current situation in both countries and have identified a number of strong partners, both local and international. As a result, two Programmes for Country Partnerships have been designed.
UNIDO's work in the field of inclusive and sustainable industrialization in Africa was lauded by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Desalegn, and the Prime Minister of Senegal, Mahammed Dionne, who spoke at the opening of the forum.
Commending the creation of the new partnership approach, Prime Minister Desalegn said that inclusive and sustainable industrialization would help his country develop. He said Ethiopia was looking forward to enhancing its economic transformation and that such a partnership model will help implement this vision.
Prime Minister Dionne said economic growth must lead to the eradication of poverty and address the problem of unemployment, adding that inclusive and sustainable industrialization would help implement Senegal's development plan by providing the collective action needed to make it happen.
"UNIDO is fully committed to supporting the Governments of Ethiopia and Senegal in implementing the two programmes. These pilot Programmes for Country Partnership mark the beginning of a larger, more comprehensive and ambitious approach to how UNIDO undertakes technical cooperation with and for Member States to support their industrialization agenda," said Director General Li.
"If we want to achieve the scale of development needed, we have to explore the full potential of inclusive and sustainable industrial development. We have to strengthen productive capacities. We must build enterprises. We must reach out to farmers and entrepreneurs, and promote economic diversification and structural transformation based on adding value to the natural resources of these countries."
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For further information please contact:
Mikhail
Evstafyev
UNIDO Advocacy and Communications Coordinator
Telephone: (+43-1) 26026-5021
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-7329
Email: M.Evstafyev[at]unido.org
