ITPO Coordination

Success Stories

A series of Success Stories from ITPO's Offices worldwide:

Competitive economy

ITPO Belgium: Revitalizing a mining district in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The south of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a major mining and basic metallurgy district. It has long been a producer of copper and cobalt of worldwide importance. However, due to political instability as well as management problems these industries went into serious decline. In 2002, ITPO Belgium brokered and agreement between foreign investors from Belgium and the Republic of South Africa and a Congolese partner to set up an up-to-date smelting plant in the town of Luilu for cobalt, which is readily available locally, and to market its products. Because of the high world market prices for cobalt, the project soon returned a profit on its high initial investments. It is also contributing significantly to sustainable livelihoods, through the creation of 650 skilled and semi-skilled jobs as well as many unskilled jobs in supplying the smelter with raw materials, plus new opportunities in local farming – local wages are partly in kind. The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization is helping to develop local farming for the latter purpose.

ITPO Russia: Increasing the competitiveness of Russian High-Tech SMEs

A joint project with the UN Development Programme supports innovation and certification in accordance with international standards in high-tech SMEs in Russia. In 2005: Seventeen small innovative enterprises successfully completed a training programme and received quality management system certificates; six others are expected to complete the programme. In 2006: Quality management system implementation was analyzed in 20 enterprises certified within the framework of the project; Managers of 29 small innovative enterprises followed workshops in ISO 14000 ecological management; A large selection of innovative projects was analyzed. Eight projects were presented at the Hanover Trade Fair, plans for promoting six of the projects in Germany were formulated and descriptions of the most promising projects were translated in German for dissemination through information technology networks.

Productive employment

IPU Mediterranean Investment and Technology Promotion Network

Over the past 7 years the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has developed a network for investment promotion and technology transfer in the Mediterranean region and set-up four Investment Promotion Units (IPUs) hosted respectively by the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI, Egypt), the Industry Promotion Agency (API, Tunisia), the Jordan Investment Board (JIB, Jordan) and the National Agency for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (ANPME, Morocco). The network exemplifies UNIDO’s comparative strengths in areas such as assisting the domestic private sector in organizing and managing businesses, upgrading technology, meeting financial requirements and in gaining access to new markets. The IPUs are thereby closely cooperating with local counterpart institutions, and optimize the outreach of their interventions by integrating into UNIDO’s worldwide network of Investment and Technology promotion Offices (ITPOs) and fostering cooperation with Subcontracting and Partnership Exchanges (SPXs) and National Cleaner Production Centres (NCPCs). The IPUs are offering specialized services, capacities, skills, working methods and approaches that are of particular relevance in addressing the aforementioned challenges. During 2000-2005, the Mediterranean Investment and Technology Promotion Network alone triggered investment worth US$ 404.94 million, creating 5,849 jobs.

ITPO Bahrain: Stimulating SME creation in Bahrain

The Entrepreneurship Development and Investment Promotion Programme (EDP) is organized by UNIDO through its Arab Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship and Investment Training (ARCEIT) in association with the Ministry of Industry & Commerce, the Bahrain Development Bank, the Bahrain Businesswomen’s Society and Bahrain Young Entrepreneurs Association. The programme, which focuses on the SME sector, consists of classroom training followed by business counselling, during which entrepreneurs receive support in project planning and implementation. ARCEIT has so far trained some 200 Bahraini entrepreneurs, which has resulted in the establishment of 96 small and medium enterprises. About 270 potential Bahraini entrepreneurs were given advice on business opportunity identification, market analysis, business plan preparation and technology tie-up, which may lead to full-fledged joint ventures and financial support by the Bahrain Development Bank.

ITPO Italy, IPU Uganda: Linking the Ugandan and Italian leather industries

Uganda has a large livestock population, which among others constitutes a strong raw material base for leather production. Both cattle breeding and the leather industry however suffer from serious problems in terms of the quality and processing of hides. With the help of ITPO Italy and IPU Uganda, a Ugandan firm has found an Italian partner with long experience in the sector. It has introduced new materials for the processing of hides and has discussed the possibility of local production of chemicals for leather processing that can be marketed domestically as well as in neighbouring countries. Increased demand for higher-quality tanned hides will stimulate cattle breeders to improve the quality of hides supplied to the tannery. To help cattle breeders supply more and better hides, the Italian partner has initiated discussions with the Government on support measures.

Sound environment

ITPO Beijing, People’s Republic of China: China’s Green Industries Development programme

The People’s Republic of China is home to almost one-fifth of the world’s population and has a large, rapidly growing industrial sector. Efforts helping to ensure that the development process is environmentally sustainable are therefore of the greatest importance. The office has contributed to the Government’s China Green Industries Development programme by:

Establishing and monitoring green industry demonstration parks and production zones;

Setting up meetings between investors and local partners in green industries;

Organizing conferences and training on sustainability issues; and

Developing a website for the Green Industries Development Network.

Additionally, ITPO Beijing is involved in the implementation of the Yellow River Sustainable Development Programme, having formulated a framework for sustainable development, with a focus on green industries and SMEs, for Dongying City in the Yellow River delta.

ITPO Paris, France: Business-business cooperation for environmental sustainability

In autumn 2005, in the context of the Pollutec trade fair, ITPO Paris, with the support of the European Commission and UNIDO’s NCPC programme, organized the EcoEtape business meetings. The objective of these meetings – held for the second time – was to initiate business-business cooperation in the field of environmentally friendly technologies. All in all, more than 70 firms and NCPCs participated in the meetings. Over 60 of these were from Latin America; in addition, there were participants from Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab region and China. Three cooperation agreements were an immediate outcome of EcoEtape; negotiations were initiated for five projects. It is expected that other business-business contacts, which are followed-up actively by ITPO Paris, will result in further cooperation agreements.