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Vision for UNIDO

UNIDO is a key player addressing our global challenges: we are working to protect the climate, to feed a growing population and end hunger and poverty, and to create job perspectives for hundreds of millions of people.

UNIDO must be a voice for the poorest around the globe. We are fighting for stronger commitments from industrialized countries and for the massive investments necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Never before has solidarity and cooperation been more important.

Progress by innovation!

GM

Latest News

  • UNIDO and Saudi Arabia to enhance cooperation to support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030
    UNIDO and Saudi Arabia to enhance cooperation to support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030

    RIYADH - Gerd Müller, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), started his official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to strengthen cooperation between UNIDO and the Kingdom.

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  • Fifth UNIDO-European Union High-Level Dialogue
    Fifth UNIDO-European Union High-Level Dialogue

    BRUSSELS – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the European Union (EU) held a fifth High-Level Dialogue.

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  • Promotion of Japanese investment and technology to continue
    Promotion of Japanese investment and technology to continue

    VIENNA – The Investment and Technology Promotion Office, Tokyo (UNIDO ITPO Tokyo) will be extended for a further six years following an agreement signed today by UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller and Japan’s Ambassador to the International Organizations in Vienna, Takeshi Hikihara.

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  • Second UNIDO-Germany Strategic Dialogue
    Second UNIDO-Germany Strategic Dialogue

    BERLIN - The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Federal Republic of Germany have held a second Strategic Dialogue.

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  • UNIDO, Festo Didactic renew their partnership
    UNIDO, Festo Didactic renew their partnership

    VIENNA – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and Festo Didactic have renewed their commitment to the partnership by signing a renewed Joint Declaration incorporating new areas of collaboration reflecting UNIDO’s vision of “Progress by Innovation”.

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  • UNIDO Director General renews call for a ‘Marshall Plan’ with Africa at the African Union Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification
    UNIDO Director General renews call for a ‘Marshall Plan’ with Africa at the African Union Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification

    NIAMEY - Debt relief for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), local manufacturing capacities, fair access to global financial markets and compensation for damages caused by climate change are the necessary actions for Africa’s accelerated growth, said United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Director General, Gerd Müller.

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  • Director General at the fiftieth session of the Industrial Development Board (IDB)
    Director General at the fiftieth session of the Industrial Development Board (IDB)

    VIENNA – At the opening of the fiftieth session of the Industrial Development Board (IDB), Director General Gerd Müller briefed representatives of UNIDO’s Member States about the recently completed restructuring of the organization, saying he was making UNIDO fit for the future. 

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  • UNIDO’s special event at COP27 highlights importance of innovative energy solutions, with focus on green hydrogen
    UNIDO’s special event at COP27 highlights importance of innovative energy solutions, with focus on green hydrogen

    SHARM EL-SHEIKH, 9 November 2022 – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), together with the COP27 Presidency, hosted a special evening event to highlight the potential of green hydrogen, and to convey UNIDO's central message: progress by innovation. The evening

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Director General's Official Meetings

Presentations of Credentials

Biography

Gerd Müller, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as of 10 December 2021, has had various leadership positions from an early stage in his career. Following his tenure as a Member of the European Parliament, he was appointed Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection in 2005. In 2013, he was appointed Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development in the German Government, a post he held until 2021.

Gerd Müller has many years of experience in the fields of multilateral cooperation, sustainability, sustainable management and innovative agriculture. Implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on climate action, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Beijing Declaration on Gender Equality are key focus areas of his work. Furthermore, he is a strong advocate of fair trade, and initiated legislation in Germany and the European Union on social and environmental standards along supply chains. 

Download Gerd Müller's full biography here.

Read Gerd Müller's biography in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Russian or Spanish.

Download Gerd Müller's official portrait here.

Follow me on Twitter here. 

 

Political and professional career

  • Director General of UNIDO

  • Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

  • Governor World Bank
    Commissioner of the Global Commission of Adaptation

  • Vice Minister to the Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection; in charge of international relations, development projects and world food affairs

  • Member of the German Bundestag (Federal Parliament)

  • Member of the European Parliament,
    Member of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly,
    Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU group

  • Teacher at vocational schools and Policy Officer at the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs