Skip to: content | navigation | search & sites services
19 - 25 June
UNIDOScope 2005 CONTENTS:
Heads of UNIDO Operations strengthen links with HQ
Vienna Austria, 31 May - 8 June, 2005
 |
Speaking to a group of eight newly appointed Heads of UNIDO Operations at UNIDO HQ for an intensive orientation workshop, UNIDO Director-General Carlos Magariños said "Your value in the field will come from your technical competence. That is where we placed the emphasis in the selection process. The competitive advantage you will have and that you will enjoy in the field, will come from your capacity to bring high level technical specialists to your country to solve concrete technical problems, that is what UNIDO needs to do, that is its competitive advantage."
The appointment of the Heads of UNIDO Operations is part of UNIDO's strategy to expand its field presence in cooperation with UNDP under The UNIDO/UNDP joint programme of cooperation on private sector development. So far, nine Heads of Operations have been fielded: from Afghanistan; Armenia; Bolivia; Burkina Faso; Ecuador; Lao; Mali; Nicaragua; and Sierra Leone.
The workshop sessions, presented by UNIDO technical cooperation specialists, covered: UNIDO service modules; UNIDO global forum functions; UNIDO, the corporate strategy and long-term vision; UNIDO/UNDP joint programme of cooperation on private sector development; The operations of the UNIDO Regional Bureaus; Security in the field; the UNIDO Technical Cooperation programme, Project Development Cycle and Results Based Management RBM in brief; Funds mobilization; The UNIDO field network; Inter-agency coordination and the mechanism at field level; Linkages: fund-mobilization, service modules and programme development; Work with UNDP at field level; Developing new programmes under the four UNIDO thematic priorities: The Trade Capacity Building Initiative; The Rural Energy for Productive Use Initiative; The Post-Crisis Initiative; and the The UNIDO / UNDP joint programme of cooperation on private sector development; Administrative issues and effective communication with HQ; Development of an action/work plan; Presentation of all Heads of UNIDO Operations country work plan; Discussions with UNIDO Director-General, Mr. Carlos Magariños; Operations of the Programme Development and Technical Cooperation Divison (PTC); and the workshop summary, evaluation.
The Heads of UNIDO Operations impressed HQ staff with their enthusiasm and the substantive nature of their comments and questions. Feedback from the participants during the workshop and at the wrapup session made it clear that participating in the workshop and making personal contact with UNIDO technicians will have a significant impact on their confidence and productivity. Two further orientation programmes for the UNIDO Heads of Operations will take place around the time of the UNDIO General Conference in December: a Focus Seminar on Private Sector Development and a Workshop on Strengthening Professional Excellence for Heads of UNIDO Operations.
As mentioned by Director-General Magariños all the appointees have strong technical backgrounds. The Ecuador Head for example, was formerly Coordinator of the Andean Development Bank's Competitiveness Programme for Ecuador, working on cluster development for SMEs, entrepreneurship development, quality control for specific industries, and investment and technology promotion. "It was clear to us that Ecuador needs urgently to improve its productivity" said the Ecuador Head of UNIDO Operations, Xavier Arcos.
At the time of signing the Agreement with UNDP (see UNIDOScope 3-9 October 2004), UNIDO was represented in 30 countries through 9 regional offices and 21 Country Offices. UNIDO hopes to increase its country coverage to up to 80 countries through a rationalization of its field structure and the establishment of UNIDO Desks in UNDP Country Offices. The salary of the UNIDO Heads of Operations is covered by UNIDO. The operating costs of the UNIDO Desk in the UNDP office will be covered by UNDP (with the exception of international communications and international travel costs). The UNIDO Desk will be closed, if after two years of operation, programmes and projects generated do not produce sufficient income to cover costs. UNDP will represent UNIDO at the country level where the UNIDO Desk is established . After one year, the implementation of the Agreement and joint project activities will be reviewed. Subsequent reviews will be biannual.
The expansion of UNIDO's field presence under the Agreement will be be implemented in a phased approach. Initially, UNIDO will establish, jointly with UNDP, a UNIDO Desk within UNDP premises in fifteen countries to be selected from UNIDO Member States, where a significant amount of programme and project activities are under implementation or planned to be developed. Together with UNDP, the experience of these Desks will be assessed after a year. Based on the outcome, and in consultation with UNDP, the network of the UNIDO Desk will be will either expanded to other countries, or the approach and arrangements will be modified, or the duration of the pilot phase extended.
In addition to expanding UNIDO's field presence, the UNIDO/UNDP joint programme of cooperation on private sector development will facilitate the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the United Nations Commission on Private Sector and Development entitled Unleashing Entrepreneurship (see UNIDOScope 21 - 27 March 2004) and UNIDO’s Corporate Strategy Productivity Enhancement for Social Advance.
 |
Unleashing Entrepreneurship challenges Governments to act as facilitators of private sector development and avoid actions that impede it. It says Governments and inter- governmental agencies can facilitate private sector development only by fostering properly functioning competitive markets. The Commission Report says the approach to resolving these issues is simple and the experience well demonstrated — what it requires is the will to implement change.
The implementation of the UNDP-UNIDO Agreement takes advantage of UNIDO’s core competencies in enhancing the productivity of industy and the strength that UNDP has with its 135 country offices and its capacity to deliver development services to a wide range of partners. UNDP will support the inclusion of areas of UNIDO expertise in country-level frameworks such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP), and the Common Country Assessment (CCA) and United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). UNDP will also assist UNIDO in presenting its areas of expertise to national counterparts and civil society in order to increase the scope of its programming and the UNDP Country Offices will provide UNIDO support in the implementation of its programmes and projects agreed under the Agreement. UNDP has also undertaken to explore with UNIDO further opportunities for cooperation, including the possibility of joint resource mobilization activities to secure additional funding for joint programmes and projects.
UNIDO core competencies to be provided via the UNDP Offices are spelt out in the Agreement under the headings: Trade Capacity Building; Investment Promotion; Agro-industries; Energy; Cleaner and Sustainable Industrial Development; and Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Development. While joint technical cooperation activites will draw on all of these core areas, those focusing on private sector development will use the synergies between UNDP programmes such as Growing Sustainable Business for Least Developed Countries and micro-finance, and UNIDO programmes related to business partnerships, SME cluster development, investment promotion and agro-industries promotion.
To ensure a rapid response, initially some 10 countries are being selected jointly to develop private sector development programmes. (The UNDP Growing Sustainable Business in the Least Developed Countries initiative was officially launched at a high-level roundtable event at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg on 2 September, 2002). The objectives, substantive areas and cooperation modalities of the joint programmes to strengthen private sector development are set out in a Framework that was signed along with the Agreement (view or download the Framework for Joint UNIDO / UNDP Technical Cooperation Programmes on Private Sector Development).
Field Operations: Haruko Hirose, Tel: +431 26026 / 3470 Email: H.Hirose@unido.org Private Sector Development: Wilfried Luetkenhorst, Tel: +431 26026 / 4820 Email: W.Luetkenhorst@unido.org
UNIDO/ARCEIT Small and Medium Enterprise Growth Counsellors
Bahrain 8 June 2005
 |
Under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Hassan Fakhro, Minister of Industry & Commerce, a certificate award ceremony was held at UNIDO/ARCEIT, Bahrain. The certificates were distributed to 25 participants who successfully completed the regional seminar on “Developing Business Counsellors for Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises”. The seminar, which took place from May 28th to June 8th, 2005, was organized by UNIDO through its Arab Regional Center for Entrepreneurship & Investment Training (ARCEIT) in cooperation with India's Entrepreneurship Development Institute.
The seminar represents the second phase of the Entrepreneurship Development Programme. Participants were resource persons engaged in the development of small and medium enterprises in twelve countries (Bahrain, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Yemen, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Nigeria).
The seminar is part of the UNIDO/ARCEIT Bahrain programme to developing local and regional resource persons for assisting young Arab entrepreneurs in Bahrain and the region. Hashim Hussein, Head, ITPO Bahrain, Tel. +973 - 536881, E-mail: itpo.bahrain@unido.orgcoming events
Send your comments to the editor: K.Timmins@unido.org</