Development efforts were strengthened here today (3 April) with agreement to harness the joint forces of industry and trade to stimulate economic growth in the South.
Signed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rubens Ricupero and the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Mauricio de Maria y Campos, the joint communiqué aims to strengthen complementarity between the two organizations.
The key areas envisaged for increased cooperation centre on science and technology, investment promotion and enterprise development, especially small and medium-sized enterprises. By pooling their resources, UNIDO and UNCTAD intend to improve coordination for more effective technical assistance in promoting industrial development and integrating developing countries into the world trading system.
The communiqué calls for an annual high-level meeting between UNIDO and UNCTAD, chaired by their executive heads, for regular consultations as well as for improving working relationships between the two organizations. These will be preceded by informal meetings at the working level between officials dealing with relevant areas of cooperation.
