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Vision for UNIDO

According to Gerd Müller, UNIDO has a unique mandate: it is the only international organization to have industrial development and the pursuit of SDG 9 at its core. The Director General is passionate about promoting inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID), accelerating achievement of SDG 9, fostering interlinkages with other SDGs and the objectives of the Paris Agreement, and forging a new global alliance for inclusive and sustainable industrial development.

He is honoured to establish UNIDO as a leading UN agency in promoting a green transition and recovery and fostering resilient, inclusive and sustainable industrial development that ensures the survival of humankind and respects planetary boundaries. He also stands for a renewed partnership between developing countries, emerging economies and industrialized countries, especially through a stronger commitment by industrialized countries.

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Latest News

  • Bamboo: an innovative and sustainable solution to environmental protection and income generation
    Bamboo: an innovative and sustainable solution to environmental protection and income generation

    BALI, 24 September – For a first-hand look at the possibilities and potential of bamboo as a sustainable construction material, UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller visited PT Indobamboo Lestari, a company that manufactures a wide range of components which can replace wood, plastic, steel and concrete

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  • The G20 must live up to its development finance commitment
    The G20 must live up to its development finance commitment

    BALI, 23 September 2022 - UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller took part in the G20 Trade, Investment and Industry Ministerial Meeting in Indonesia. While addressing the plenary session on sustainable industrialization, Müller called on the G20 countries to live up to their commitment to meet the UN t

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  • UNIDO and Switzerland renew commitment to promoting quality and standards
    UNIDO and Switzerland renew commitment to promoting quality and standards

    VIENNA, 16 September 2022 - The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Switzerland, through the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), today signed the second phase of the Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP), a CHF 14 million (approximately US$14.5 million)  programme extension to consolidate and scale up joint work initiated in 2017.

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  • Africa at the centre of UNIDO’s Industrialization efforts: UNIDO Director General, Gerd Müller
    Africa at the centre of UNIDO’s Industrialization efforts: UNIDO Director General, Gerd Müller

    VIENNA, 12 August 2022 - “Food security in Africa is among the priority areas for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and it is keen to support agro-processing industry and establish agricultural value chains across the continent,” declared Director General (DG), Gerd Müller.

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  • Google and UNIDO brokering innovative ideas and technology solutions for the environment
    Google and UNIDO brokering innovative ideas and technology solutions for the environment

    VIENNA, 11 August 2022 – UNIDO met representatives of Google to discuss digital innovation for sustainable development. The Director General, Gerd Müller, expressed UNIDO’s interest to bring in appropriate and feasible digital solutions and technology to developing countries to accelerate their efforts towards sustainable industrial and economic development.

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  • UNIDO Director General calls for a fairer global trade system with binding international standards
    UNIDO Director General calls for a fairer global trade system with binding international standards

    GENEVA, 28 July 2022 – UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller took part in the World Trade Organization’s Eighth Aid for Trade Global Review with the theme “Empowering Connected Sustainable Trade”. In his introductory remarks at the Opening Plenary session, Müller called for a move towards a fairer global trade system, with increased investment in productive capacity in developing and least developed countries.

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  • Enormous opportunities for Africa, says UNIDO DG at “The Africa we Want: Reconfirming the Development of Africa as a Priority to the United Nations System”
    Enormous opportunities for Africa, says UNIDO DG at “The Africa we Want: Reconfirming the Development of Africa as a Priority to the United Nations System”

    NEW YORK, 20 July 2022 - UNIDO plans to build “enormous opportunities” on the African Continent, Gerd Müller said in his remarks at the “Special High-Level Dialogue” of the Presidents of the GA and ECOSOC pivoting around policies and best practices to accelerate Africa’s development (see concept note and UN web TV video).

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  • UNIDO and the Government of Slovenia sign a Roadmap for Cooperation
    UNIDO and the Government of Slovenia sign a Roadmap for Cooperation

    VIENNA, 30 June 2022 – Following the 30th anniversary celebration of Slovenia’s membership to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller and the Slovenian Minister of Economic Development Matjaž Han signed a Roadmap for Cooperation – a framework document outlining the key bilateral cooperation elements, including common objectives, high-potential thematic priorities, and geographical scope for joint activities – that complements the existing Cooperation Agreement.

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  • Director General Müller’s action-packed mission to Germany
    Director General Müller’s action-packed mission to Germany

    BERLIN, 24 June 2022 - UNIDO’s Director General, Gerd Müller, took part in the GreenTech Festival, a global platform for empowering changemakers and fostering innovative green technologies. During his mission to Berlin, Müller also met German policymakers.

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  • Director General Müller tells GreenTech Festival, "We are ready for a zero-carbon economy."
    Director General Müller tells GreenTech Festival, "We are ready for a zero-carbon economy."

    BERLIN, 23 June 2022 - At the GreenTech Festival, UNIDO’s Director General, Gerd Müller, told participants, “A world without hunger is possible. Stopping climate change is possible. A zero-carbon economy is possible.”

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Director General's Official Meetings

Credential Meetings with the Director General

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.

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.

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.

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