About the Programme

Overview of the Region

The Asia and the Pacific region is a diverse group of countries comprising the developed as well as least developed countries.  The Region accounts for more than half of the world’s population and is home to six of the ten most populous states in the world.  As a whole, the region has achieved unprecedented growth in the past decades and accounts for more than 35% of the world GDP. Rapid growth in the region has lifted millions of people out of poverty.

Despite that, the Region is still home to about 700 million absolute poor.  Income disparities within and between countries are also growing.  Moreover, rapid growth and demographic pressures have exerted significant stress on environment and natural resources.

UNIDO’s Asia and the Pacific Programme

The Asia and the Pacific Programme is responsible for developing regionally coherent programmatic approaches in compliance with UNIDO’s three thematicareas of focus (poverty reduction through productive activities, trade capacity building, and energy and environment) and eight service modules, based on identified needs, priorities and demands of the countries of the Asia and the Pacific Region. The Programme also serves as a focal point for coordination of the UNIDO activities in the region in cooperation with UNIDO technical branches and the counterpart regional/sub-regional and country institutions in the Asia and Pacific countries. Furthermore, the Asia and the Pacific Programme is also responsible for providing policy guidance and supervision to its field network comprising Regional and Country Offices as well as UNIDO Desks and Focal Points within the region, comprising of sub-regions such as South Asia, Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and the Pacific Island Countries.

The Programme covers a diverse group of more than 38 countries, including 14 Least Developed Countries and 26 UNIDO Member States.  It has a field network of 15 offices in the Region, i.e., 3 Regional Offices (Bangkok, Beijing and New Delhi), 5 Country Offices (Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam), 2 UNIDO Desks (Afghanistan and Laos), 1 Focal Point Office (Sri Lanka), and 4 Investment and Technology Promotion Offices (Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo).  In addition, it has also following networks:

• National Cleaner Production Centers (NCPC) in Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam.
• Subcontracting and Partnership Exchanges (SPX) in China, India and Sri Lanka.

Various technology centers:

International Centre for Advancement of Manufacturing Technology (ICAMT), Bangalore, India
International Centre for Small Hydro Power (ICSHP), Hangzhou, China
International Centre for Promotion and Transfer of Solar Energy (ISEC), Lanzhou, China
International Centre for Materials Technology Promotion (ICM), Beijing, China