Opinions & Interviews

VIENNA, 28 November (BelTA) – Belarus attaches great importance to the increasing contribution of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to the industrial development of middle-income countries, Alena Kupchyna, Belarus’ Ambassador to Austria, Belarus’ Permanent Representative to the international organizations in Vienna, said at the 17th session of the UNIDO General Conference on 28 November, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus attaches great importance to UNIDO’s growing contribution to the industrial development of middle-income countries in such fields as standardization, metrology, eco-friendly industry, energy saving, promotion of SMEs, and attraction of investments to knowledge-intensive industrial sectors,” Alena Kupchyna remarked.

In her words, UNIDO has a serious potential to work out science-based approaches to the industrial development of this group of countries. “Bearing in mind that 97 out of 168 UNIDO member states are middle-income countries, we believe that it is extremely important for UNIDO to develop a strategic vision of cooperation with these states,” the ambassador underlined.

The diplomat also stressed that Belarus consistently advocates the comprehensive strengthening of UNIDO as the UN’s leading agency in industrialization. Implementing the strategy of all-round sustainable industrial development, UNIDO plays a unique and essential role in the international development promotion system, Alena Kupchyna emphasized.

“We commend UNIDO’s contribution to the intensification of international effort to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We support UNIDO’s initiatives to launch large international projects which boost interaction with other relevant international organizations: the Global Environment Fund, the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Sustainable Energy for All initiative, and the International Energy Agency. We consider it extremely important to continue working in this direction,” the diplomat noted.

She named UNIDO’s key achievements in the recent years: the expanding network of partners, growing reputation, and record-breaking volume of consultative and technical assistance to countries. Alena Kupchyna also pointed to the big personal contribution of UNIDO Director General Li Yong to these achievements.