Official visit of UNIDO Director General LI Yong to Japan in May 2016

LI Yong, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), will visit Japan from 11 to 14 May 2016 to meet with high level officials from Japanese government agencies, including MOFA, METI, MOF, JETRO, JICA, JBIC, and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), to discuss matters related to the close cooperation between UNIDO and Japan and to emphasize the role of UNIDO in achieving the industry-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He will also hold a roundtable meeting with UNIDO partners, including Ambassadors representing the African Diplomatic Corps (ADC), the Japanese private sector and Japanese bilateral agencies, with a view to exchange views on UNIDO’s work in Africa and other emerging regions, and to coordinate efforts on delivery of services for mutual benefit.

Key messages

1. UNIDO’s goal of achieving ISID is explicitly recognized and anchored within the internationally agreed 2030 Agenda. Through SDG 9, the Member States of the United Nations call upon the international community to “build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. ISID, in support of SDG 9 and various other industry-related goals and targets, can serve as a primary engine not only of job creation and economic growth but also of technology transfer, investment flows and skills development.

2. One innovative way how UNIDO promotes ISID is through the programmes for country partnership in Ethiopia, Senegal and Peru where new investments in agro-industrial parks and platforms are fostering industrialization, job creation and stability.

3. UNIDO will contribute to TICAD VI, the first TICAD to be held in Africa, a continent strongly supported by UNIDO. The meeting’s agenda includes “industrialization” as a key component of development in Africa. A high-level UNIDO delegation will be led by the Director General, and UNIDO will be hosting two side events.

4. UNIDO has been a long-standing partner of the Government of Japan, implementing projects with human security as guiding principle as well as serving as platform for public-private partnerships and increased participation of the private sector in development.

5. In 2016, Japan contributed over USD 7.4 million to UNIDO projects in response to the needs of communities affected by humanitarian crises and the influx of displaced peoples in the Middle East and Africa. Japan has further provided a contribution of USD 1.7 million for the second phase of a project implemented in partnership with Komatsu to support vocational training for the heavy duty equipment sector in Liberia. An amount of USD 2.6 million was received earlier this year as additional contribution to the “Low Carbon Low Emission Energy Technology Transfer” Programme (LCET) that increases access to sustainable energy in partner countries through Japanese low carbon technologies.

About UNIDO
http://www.unido.org
UNIDO is the only specialized agency of the United Nations mandated to promote industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability. It was established in 1966 and is headquartered in Vienna.

About the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/user_media_upgrade/Who_we_are/Mission/ISID_SDG_brochure_final.pdf
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) constitute the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the international community at the UN General Assembly in September 2015, the new universal development framework that seeks to transform our world and will guide all global, regional and national development endeavours for the next 15 years. The SDGs follow and expand on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which expired at the end of 2015.

About Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID)
https://isid.unido.org/ and http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/media/images/worldwide/UNIDO_in_Africa_Region.pdf
UNIDO’s vision to address today’s economic, social and environmental challenges is anchored in its mandate of ISID. ISID is the concept that every country achieves a higher level of industrialization in their economies and benefits from the globalization of markets for industrial goods and services; no one is left behind in benefiting from industrial growth, and prosperity is shared among women and men in all countries, while safeguarding the environment.

About TICAD VI
http://www.mofa.go.jp/afr/af2/page3e_000453.html
The Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) will be held in Nairobi, Kenya on 27-28 August 2016. TICAD has led to an important coordination process in support of African development. UNIDO has been a key contributor to TICAD since its first meeting in October 1993, in particular by bringing the private and public sector together.

Contact:
Naoko TOCHIBAYASHI (Ms.), Media Consultant     n.tochibayashi@unido.org   
UNIDO INVESTMENT AND TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION OFFICE, TOKYO (UNIDO ITPO Tokyo)
UNU HQs Bldg. 8F, 5-53-70, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001
Phone: 03-6433-5520  Fax: 03-6433-5530