Statement by Ms. Karin Nagamine, Second Secretary at the 52nd Session of the Industrial Development Board of UNIDO

 
Madam President,
 
Japan takes note of the report by the Director General IDB.52/11 on the Annual update on the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III).
 
We expect UNIDO to actively promote IDDA III for the remainder of its period and reaffirm our support of the Organization’s leading role in its implementation. We also expect UNIDO to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the results.
 
The ninth Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD9) will be held in Yokohama next year. We appreciate UNIDO’s active participation in the TICAD Ministerial Meeting held in Tokyo, as well as the Investment and Business seminars organized by ITPO Tokyo as TICAD 9 Partner Projects to boost the spirit of the coming TICAD 9.
We look forward to continuing the collaboration with UNIDO to forge better synergies between IDDA III and the TICAD process.
 
During the recent years, we have funded projects in the area of improving food value-chains, job creation through skills development, and promoting sustainable plastic value chains in Cameroon, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Egypt, and Nigeria.
Furthermore, we have funded inter-regional projects that promote climate innovation and partnerships to advance the decarbonization of society. The first project began in Kenya and we are expanding the participating countries with a special focus on Africa, Asia, and Middle East.
 
One of Japan’s particular strengths is the provision of effective and innovative technological solutions developed by Japanese companies.
As an example, ITPO Tokyo is implementing the industrial vocational training programmes in Ethiopia, Morocco, South Africa, Uganda, and Kenya. The participating companies were chosen from those that registered their technologies through ITPO Tokyo’s “Sustainable Technology Promotion Platform (STePP),” a sophisticated database launched in 2010 containing Japanese technologies selected for their developmental potential.
We expect these ITPO Tokyo’s programmes to generate synergies with our new projects in the Global South, leading to new business development opportunities for companies there in collaboration with Japanese counterparts.
 
In conclusion, we look forward to fostering more cooperation with UNIDO and Africa in order to promote ISID in the region.
 
Thank you.
(END)