For information only - not an official document
UNIS/OUS/377
30 June 2017
VIENNA, 29 June (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) - At its forty-fifth session held on 27-29 June in Vienna, the Industrial Development Board of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) unanimously agreed to recommend the incumbent, LI Yong, as candidate for the post of Director General. His appointment for a second four-year term will be considered by the UNIDO General Conference at its 17th session in November 2017.
"I accept this decision with honour and humility. I would like to express my appreciation to all Member States for the confidence placed in me, my management team and staff, who made the successes of the past four years possible," said Li.
The Director General continued: "During this period, we have also grown as an organization, and are today achieving a larger development impact than ever before. At the same time, we have cemented inclusive and sustainable industrial development as a central element of future development assistance, most notably by including Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and various other industry-related targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Most recently, UNIDO's relevance has been further underlined, when the United Nations General Assembly mandated the Organization to coordinate the implementation of the third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III), which will be a major framework for the sustainable growth of the continent."
"As one of our contributions to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and SDG 9, we launched a Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) approach to integrate our services and leverage more technical and financial support from partners for higher development impact. The expansion and further strengthening of PCPs is one of our priorities. This approach is already bearing fruit in Ethiopia, Senegal and Peru. Furthermore, UNIDO is strengthening its partnerships, especially with international financial institutions, as exemplified by the new cooperation framework set in place with the World Bank last year."
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