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12 - 18 Dec
This is the last issue for 2004. UNIDOScope is on holidays until February 2005.
CONTENTS:
UNIDO praised in UK House of Commons by
Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn
London, UK, 25 November, 2004
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Speaking in the UK House of Commons Adjournment Debate on 25th November 2004, UK Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn paid tribute to UNIDO for the work it is doing in developing countries. He said that the progress made by UNIDO under the leadership of Director-General Magarinos "is extremely encouraging". "That is why," he continued, "in addition to our contribution of £4.2 million each year, we have also provided training for senior management in the organisation and support for the development of a results-based management system." The Secretary of State was responding to comments to the House by the Labour Member for Putney, Mr. Tony Colman, who accompanied the UK delegation attending the 29th Session of UNIDO's Industrial Development Board, in Vienna on 9 - 11 November 2004 (see UNIDOScope 21-27 Nov 2004).
Secretary of State Benn, who is also the Prime Minister's Africa Personal Representative, told the House that UNIDO has achieved a great deal in terms of reform and change, "but it is very important that it maintain its focus on its unique contribution to the delivery of the millennium development goals. I hope that its work in sub-Saharan Africa will continue to be strengthened so that it can focus on the particular contribution that it can make to the process, given the expertise that it has developed."
Expressing the hope that UNIDO will continue to have greater effect, he said "It should seek to build on and strengthen its approach to partnerships, including programmes that are planned and carried out jointly. That is essential if it is to increase the scale of its work and achieve change that really lasts." He referred to the agreement that UNIDO recently signed with UNDP (see UNIDOScope 3-9 October 2004) that is centred around joint work on private sector development and strengthening UNIDO's field presence, and said that it was important that those lessons are learned across the UN.
Referring to a command paper from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that said that UNIDO should play to its strengths and act in where it has the comparative advantage, the Member for Putney, Tony Colman asked the Secretary of State whether UNIDO "should become rather larger". In his answer, Secretary Benn agreed, and said "We need to support UNIDO in extending the reach of its work, building on partnerships and finding people with whom it can co-operate."
The UK Secretary of State's statement showed a detailed knowledge of UNIDO's activities and their importance in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. He spoke about UNIDO's work in private sector development, trade capacity building, the promotion of cleaner production methods and investment promotion. He said that the UNIDO Director-General "well understands the need to integrate UNIDO's technical cooperation work with that of other organizations more effectively", and that he had learned a great deal in his meeting with UNIDO's Director-General this year.
Director-General Magariños was in UK on 20-21 June 2004, with UK's Permanent Representative to UNIDO, Ambassador Peter Jenkins and met with Mr. Benn, DFID's Chief Economist Adrian Wood and a number their UK Government colleagues, including Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Bill Rammel MP; members of the All Party UN Parliamentary Group, led by Lord Wade; the Director of the Overseas Development Institute, Mr. Simon Maxwell; and the Director of Climate, Energy and Environmental Risk, Department of Enviroment, Food and Rural Affairs and Chair of the Governing Board of REEEP, Mr. Henry Derwent (see the Director-General's interview with Carbon International on energy, energy efficiency and UNIDO's links to REEEPs objectives).
During the debate on UNIDO in the House of Commons, mention was made of a number of UNIDO programmes, among them the UNIDO Investment Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) UK, based in Warrington, UK. UNIDO ITPO UK is core funded by the Northwest Development Agency on behalf of other Regional Development Agencies in the UK, and acts as a marriage-broker bringing together UK companies—often small and medium-sized enterprises—that wish to joint-venture or to develop with developing countries. Some 247 companies have taken that up so far, and the work is expanding rapidly. The textile industry in Ethiopia and the flower and vegetable industry of Kenya were cited as examples of opportunities promoted by the ITPO. UNIDO ITPO Warrington's work the Manchester business school, where comparative analysis between 19 selected developing countries and eight sectors, involving 90 MBA students, was among other ITPO activities mentioned. That work should be invaluable to UNIDO's work worldwide, as well as to UK companies that will be able to utilise a clear planning tool for developing-country investment.
The Secretary of State for International Development offered his congratulations to UNIDO ITPO Warrington on its work in setting up supply chain arrangements between UK companies and companies in developing countries as a really practical example of north-south co-operation at work, and said that Commission for Africa representatives will be discussing it with the UNIDO secretariat in the very near future. 
UNIDO ITPO UK PO Box 37, Centre Park Warrington Cheshire WA1 1XB, Tel. +44 1925 400100 Fax. +44 1925 400400, E-mail: itpo.uk@unido.org Adrie De Groot, Tel: +43 1 26026 / 3749, E-mail: A.DeGroot@unido.org
UNIDO Director-General's proposal to Chief Executives Board on UN Reform
At the 29th Session of UNIDO's Industrial Development Board (see UNIDOScope 21 - 27 November 2004), UNIDO Director General Carlos Magariños spoke about possible future gains in UNIDO's efficiency and made reference to a proposal he has formulated for an improved voluntary coordination mechanism between the various development-oriented agencies, programmes and funds of the UN system, which he has discussed with the UN Secretary-General and other executive heads of UN agencies including the World Bank, the IMF and WTO on a number of occasions, the last being in the meeting of the UN System Chief Executives Board (CEB) for Coordination held in New York on 29-30 October 2004.
In his statement to the IDB, the Director-General said "I strongly feel that improved coordination of the development efforts of the UN system is an indispensable prerequisite for raising the efficiency and effectiveness of our service delivery in the years to come."
The full text of the Director-General's proposal to the Chief Executives Board on UN Reform is available here for viewing or downloading.
November, December Trust Fund signings
by UK, Norway, Italy, Switzerland.....
Vienna, Austria, November - December 2004
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Last week we reported on Italy's signing on 30th November of the Trust Fund for the continuation of the Jordan Investment Promotion Unit (see UNIDOScope 5 - 11 Dec 2004). It seems to be Trust Fund time. Since then, we have received news of four further signings (two by Norway, one by Switzerland and one by UK) with the possibility of more before the year is out. One among the latter is the UNIDO / World Bank / OPS project in Afghanistan (see UNIDOScope 24 - 30 October 2004).
The Trust Fund Agreement between UNIDO and the UK was signed in New Delhi, India, by the UK Development Cooperation Agency DFID India's Senior Deputy Programme Manager, Gopi Menon, on 11 November 2004, for some US id="ucfLayout02" onload="try { OnBodyLoad(); } catch(e) { }; afterload();"m. It will finance a four year cluster development programme in the State of Orissa.This follows an earlier DFID financed project to assess the sectors that would most benefit from cluster development.
The Trust Fund Agreements between Norway and UNIDO were also signed in November. In Kampala, Uganda, on 19 November, Norway's Ambassador Tore F. Gjøs signed a Trust Fund Agreement for US,285,182.00 to finance Phase II of the UNIDO Integrated Programme for Uganda (evaluation of Phase I available here for viewing or downloading). The first installment of over US id="ucfLayout02" onload="try { OnBodyLoad(); } catch(e) { }; afterload();"m has already been received. The other agreement between UNIDO and Norway was signed in Luanda, Angola, by Ambassador Arild R. Øyen, for US8,000.00 to finance the rehabilitation of the food industry in Angola over a period of two years. A first installment of US6,083 to this trust fund has already been received.
The Trust Fund Agreement between UNIDO and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation was signed at UNIDO HQ in Vienna, by Ambassador Rudolf Schaller, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to UNIDO and UNIDO Director- General Carlos Magariños on 6 December. The US id="ucfLayout02" onload="try { OnBodyLoad(); } catch(e) { }; afterload();",757,602 provided by the agreement will finance a three year project to improve the compliance of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) principles, in countries with developing and transition economies. The project will be carried out in the context of UNIDO's well established cluster programme and should demonstrate that the implementation of environmental and social standards by small enterprises at the local level can facilitate their access to international markets. The identification of the countries (four) and sectors for the project is expected to be completed by March 2005.
With respect to the rehabilitation of the food industry in Angola, the project document describes the expected end-of-project situation at the national level, the institutional level and at the enterprise level. At the national level: a food inspection system meeting international requirements will have been established; food legislation will have been compiled, updated and simplified for easy enforcement; and a restructuring and upgrading programme will have been established for manufacturing industries with focus on food.
At the institutional level: the Angolan institutions in charge of food inspection and food safety in general will have been strengthened and able to provide the support required by the food industry; the capacity of laboratories will have been increased and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) introduced; a critical mass of highly qualified national expertise in food safety assurance, upgraded food processing technologies and clean technology principles as well as in appropriate micro and small-scale food processing and packaging will have been created within the support institutions through training; a well coordinated institutional network will have been established to support the development of the quality infrastructure and the rehabilitation and restructuring process in Angola; an autonomous and specialized unit to monitor and coordinate the rehabilitation and restructuring programme in Angola will have been set up; there will be an increased number of trained trainers and experts to support quality development; rehabilitation and restructuring in the country will be available through a network of institutions; training sessions and workshops will have been organized and technical skills of staff from institutions and industrial enterprises upgraded; modalities and means to ensure the sustainability of the support mechanism of rehabilitation of enterprises will have been developed, tested and implemented.
At the enterprise level: ten pilot food processing enterprises will have had Good Hygene Practices (GHPs) and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) food safety methodology introduced; upgraded food processing technologies and clean technology principles will also have been introduced in these ten enterprises. For demonstration and training purposes, at least four pilot enterprises will have had micro and small-scale food processing and packaging as well as food hygiene and safety practices introduced.
UK - Orissa cluster programme: Michele Clara Tel +43-1-26026 / 3376, Email M.Clara@unido.org Norway - Uganda IP Phase II: Ahmadou Ouaouich, Tel +43-1-26026 / 5542, Email: A.Ouaouich@unido.org Norway - Angola food industry programme: Karl Schebester, Tel +43-1-26026 / 3490, Email: K.Schebester@unido.org Switzerland - CSR cluster programme: Michele Clara Tel +43-1-26026 / 3376, Email M.Clara@unido.org UNIDO / World Bank / OPS - Afghanistan: Gerardo Patacconi, Tel +43-1-26026 / 3605, Email: G.Patacconi@unido.org
African Ambassadors visit Pre-fab house manufacturer
with UNIDO ITPO Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan 30 November, 2004
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On 30 November 2004, UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) Tokyo accompanied Tokyo-based diplomats from ten African countries (Botswana; Ethiopia; Ethiopia; Kenya; Mozambique; Sudan; South Africa; Tanzania; Tunisia; and Uganda) on a visit to Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd, a manufacturer of pre-fabricated houses. UNIDO was represented by UNIDO ITPO Coordinator Victor Zakharian; ITPO Head Seiji Oshima and ITPO Tokyo staff, Messrs. K. Hagiwara and J. Nishida.
The visit was a followup to the TICAD Asia-Africa Trade and Investment Conference (TICAD-AATIC) on November 1, 2004, where discussions were held among representatives from 60 countries on measures to develop industries and promote investment among the Asian and African countries. TICAD-AAITIC was co-organized by the Government of Japan, the United Nations, the Global Coalition for Africa (GCA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank.
From the viewpoint of UNIDO ITPO Tokyo, the promotion of low-cost housing technology is one measure that holds promising prospects of developing industries and promoting investment among the Asian and African countries.
UNIDO ITPO Tokyo, Jun Nishida, Tel: 81-3-3402-9341, Fax: 81-3-3402-9384, Email: itpotokyo@unido.or.jp
Long Yongtu and Jorge Blanco Villegas now UNIDO Goodwill Ambassadors
Vienna, Austria, 30 November, 2004
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Long Yongtu and Jorge Alberto Blanco Villegas became members of UNIDO Goodwill Ambassador Corps on 5 November, 2004, bringing their number to four. An earlier ceremony, (see UNIDOScope 17 - 23 October, 2004) also conducted by UNIDO Director-General Carlos Magariños, on 14 October this year, inaugurated the programme and designated Senegalese businessman Mansour Cama and British Industrialist, Sir Ronald Grierson .
As Assistant Minister and Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of China, Yongtu Long has dealt extensively with his country’s multilateral economic and trade issues, including relations with the United Nations development agencies. Dedicated over a decade to bring China into the global trading system, he was the country’s chief negotiator for its accession to the WTO. Fully involved in APEC affairs, he attended APEC meetings of trade ministers between 1992 and 2001. Yongtu Long was also involved in creating the Regional Economic Development Cooperation Committee of the Tumen River Area in Northeast Asia. Since January 2003 he serves as Secretary-General of the Boao Forum for Asia, a non-governmental and non-profit international organization dealing with economic cooperation between Asian countries and other parts of the world.
Jorge Alberto Blanco Villegas, as an entrepreneur and industrialist, has extensive experience in industry, trade, investment and banking operations in Argentina. He has been associated with a wide range of companies in senior management positions, as member or chairman of their management boards (SOCMA Americana S.A., Philco Argentina S.A., Sevel Argentina S.A, Rachid Fares Enterprises). He is a former Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Argentina and is presently Chairman of a number of farming and investment companies.
Renato Fornocaldo, Tel +43-1-26026 / 3670, Email: R.Fornocaldo@unido.org
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