Astana, Kazakhstan, May 4
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Kazakh Minister of Economy and Budget Planning Erbolat Dossaev met with Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization Li Yong during the 47th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank.
The parties discussed the issues of cooperation expansion.
Dossaev noted that according to the recognized independent reports UNIDO is a global leader in the sphere of provision of technical assistance to increase trade capacity in developing countries via unification of standards, testing and quality assessment, which are the direct activities of the organization. He further noted that the cooperation between Kazakhstan and the UNIDO became dynamic over the past few years.
"A number of joint projects in the sphere of small and medium-sized businesses have been implemented since Kazakhstan`s joining to the UNIDO in 1997, as well as Kazakhstan participated in several regional UNIDO projects covering the areas such as industrial statistics, industrial integration and mitigation of the negative impact of industry on the environment," Dossaev said.
The Minister also assured that Kazakhstan highly appreciates the UNIDO`s activity and his country's cooperation with this organization. He noted that at present, industry occupies almost a third place in the Kazakh economy. The mining sector accounts for more than 2.9 % of employment and 18 % of gross value added in the economy. Investments in total capital in the mining industry today makes up more than 30 %, and some12% in the manufacturing industry. Kazakhstan is the world's leading exporter of mining industries (primarily for oil) in terms of per capita exports ahead of all CIS countries.
"Kazakhstan aims to ensure a balanced and sustainable economic growth through the diversification of the economy and its competitiveness. By 2050 Kazakhstan plans to enter the top thirty of the most developed countries. In this context, it is important for Kazakhstan to attract the expert potential of UNIDO, the use of its methodologies, technical knowledge," Dossaev said.
Li Yong said that UNIDO also highly appreciated cooperation with Kazakhstan, and intends to deepen and broaden this interaction. The Director General also drew attention to the work carried out in the country to diversify the economy, noting that the quite successful experience will be useful to other countries with emerging markets.
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) was established on 17 November, 1966 in accordance with the UN General Assembly resolution 2152 (XXI) to implement coordination of activity of UN in the sphere of industry.
UNIDO became a specialized agency of the in the structure of the UN In 1985. The UNIDO member states are 172 countries. The headquarter of the organization is located in Vienna, Austria.
The mandate of UNIDO is to promote and accelerate inclusive and sustainable industrial development in developing countries and economies in transition.
Priority activities of UNIDO: poverty reduction through productive activities; creating opportunities for trade development; energy and the environment.
Translated by S.I.
Edited by C.N.