The Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), LI Yong, and the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Germany to UNIDO, Götz Schmidt-Bremme, met today to expand their cooperation and sign two funding agreements amounting to €1.5m.
Through one agreement, Germany supports UNIDO's thematic Trust Fund on Trade-Related Capacity-Building (TCB Trust Fund) to foster the ability of developing countries to effectively trade. Together with contributions from other donors, such as the European Union, this will help to advance trade capacities and quality infrastructure in Africa and beyond.
Through a second agreement, Germany is supporting UNIDO's geographic Trust Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC Trust Fund) to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 9, advance economic competitiveness, and develop value chains in the region.
UNIDO's Li Yong said, "Our partnership with Germany is ever more important and continues to expand. We highly appreciate Germany's investment in UNIDO's thematic and geographic trust funds. These precious resources will help to accelerate SDG9 implementation in the Latin America and the Caribbean region and increase trade capacity-building globally."
Germany's Ambassador, Schmidt-Bremme, stated, "Germany continues to invest in UNIDO as a strategic partner in the UN system to advance sustainable industrial development and trade capacities around the world. Moreover, Germany is glad to reinforce our cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean."
Julia Villatoro, Ambassador of El Salvador to Austria, Permanent Representative to UNIDO, and Chair of UNIDO's Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries (GRULAC), stressed that "the contribution of Germany is significant to support UNIDO's current efforts in the region, particularly when LAC countries are recovering from the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic".
All parties remain confident that the cooperation will further develop and intensify over the coming years and look forward to further strategic talks.
