14. May 2010

 

Statement by Sri Lanka

by Ambassador M.M. Jaffeer, Permanent Representative

at the 37th session of the Industrial Development Board of UNIDO

Vienna: 10-12 May 2010

 

 

Agenda item 3: Annual Report 2009 on the activities of the Organization

 

Mr. President

At the outset, I wish to congratulate you, Excellency Ambassador Böck, Permanent Representative of Austria on your election as the President of this session of the Industrial Development Board. 

I would also like to congratulate other members of the Bureau on their election and to extend our thanks to your predecessor H.E. Mr. Jerry Ugokwe, Ambassador of Nigeria and to you, as the Actg. President of the 36th session of the IDB, for the valuable contribution to the success of the previous session.

Sri Lanka welcomes the re-election of Mr. Kandeh Yumkella as Director-General of UNIDO and we express our appreciation for his leadership and continued efforts towards achieving the goals of the organization. My delegation has listened with great interest to his opening statement.   

Mr. President,

Sri Lanka would like to associate itself with the comments made by the Chairs of the Group of 77 and China; and the Asian Group.

My delegation commends the efforts of the Director General and his staff on the comprehensive Annual Report for the year 2009. Sri Lanka attaches great importance to the mandate and goal of UNIDO and we appreciate the continuing focus of UNIDO on its three thematic priorities.

We are pleased to note that despite numerous challenges last year, funding for technical cooperation has increased by 20% to US $ 183 million. This is a clear demonstration of growing appreciation among the various partners and donors in the work of UNIDO.

Mr. President,

As observed by the DG in his opening remarks, megatrend issues such as food, fuel and financial crisis pose great challenges specially to developing countries and in this respect UNIDO could provide a valuable contribution along with other stakeholders in addressing these issues. The core sustainable development areas identified by UNIDO such as Environment, Energy, Greening of Industry, and Technology are all interlinked and cannot be pursued in isolation. My delegation notes that the DG’s report on Environment and Energy, highlights how the vital issues such as cleaner production, consumption, efficiency, resource and waste management need to be pursued hand-in-hand with economic development and play a crucial role in Industrial Development.

In this regard, the innovative Cleaner Production Centre (CPC) programme of UNIDO remains a strong model for countries and represents a successful example of Sri Lanka’s partnership with UNIDO. The NCPC in Sri Lanka has been effectively raising awareness and sharing best practises with stakeholders. My delegation notes that the report indicates that UNIDO has undertaken analysis on the potential of existing  centres to accelerate the development and dissemination of low carbon technologies in the manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka and Thailand.

There is clear recognition of the importance and inter-linkages between consumption and production in the industrial processes, to help reduce the adverse effects to humans and the environment and conserve increasingly scarce resources. In this regard, I am pleased to inform that the 9th Asia Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production Conference will be held in Sri Lanka from June 10th, 2010 and we are glad that the Director General will be delivering the keynote Address for the conference. We hope that this forum would help raise greater cooperation and awareness on the importance of Sustainable Consumption and Production and provide best practices to stakeholders and industry.

Mr. President

While a large emphasis in today’s world is placed on issues related to environment and energy, we note that the core of UNIDO’s work remains in the reduction of poverty through sustainable development and international cooperation.

My delegation notes that in the majority of member states of UNIDO, including Sri Lanka, rural populations accounts for the majority, where Agriculture still remains one of the most important and vulnerable sectors. In this regard, we are pleased with UNIDO programmes to support livelihood recovery in the North-East of Sri Lanka to improve agricultural productivity and community based entrepreneurship.

Mr. President,

Finally, the importance of greater South- South industrial cooperation cannot be underscored, and we note the example, where Sri Lankan experts with Chinese equipment and Rwandan members have been working together to provide rural mini-hydropower services in three districts in Rwanda. We encourage UNIDO to promote and enhance measures for such types of cooperation. My delegation is happy to note that new South- South Industrial Cooperation Centres will be established in Asia and help towards greater South –South cooperation.

Sri Lanka looks forward to continue to work with UNIDO and other partners to promote and accelerate sustainable industrial development and international cooperation to improve the living conditions of our people.

Thank you.