Forty-four integrated programs were formulated and approved as of May 2001, most of which had been developed and were in operation.
In May 2001, UNIDO's programs and projects totalled approximately US $375 million. Of the US $65 million committed by that date, 55% had been allocated to sub-Saharan Africa, 23% to the Arab region and 22% to central and eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.
UNIDO's objectives in technical cooperation are the following:
In seeking to industrialize their economies, developing countries face a wide spectrum of problems, ranging from preparation of national plans, development of sectoral programs, and elaboration of appropriate policies and strategies of industrial development, to concerns relating to the technical processes to be employed in manufacturing any specific product, preparation of preinvestment studies, organization of production facilities, training of personnel in new skills, management of factory operations, and establishment of an industrial infrastructure to support industrial enterprises and to mobilize financial resources for investment in industrial production.
UNIDO assists in addressing these problems by in-depth studies on specific priority problems of industrialization in particular countries, with consideration given to important concerns, such as the rehabilitation of troubled industries, international cooperation for small-and medium-sized industry development, institutional development for technology transfer and adaptation, and technical cooperation among developing countries.
UNIDO also works to increase the resources available for technical cooperation purposes, working with traditional as well as new funding sources, such as trust funds under which the developing countries themselves finance UNIDO technical assistance projects, and mobilizing the support of nongovernmental organizations.
A common problem of developing countries is how best to exploit their natural resources and other comparative advantages in order to ensure a worthwhile share for themselves in world production and trade in manufactured products, including replacement of imported industrial products with locally manufactured ones. In order to increase industrial production in developing countries, UNIDO assists them, through the implementation of technical
Members of UNIDO
(as of 1 June 2002)
Afghanistan
Chad
Germany
Lebanon
Pakistan
Sweden
Albania
Chile
Ghana
Lesotho
Panama
Switzerland
Algeria
China
Greece
Liberia
Papua New Guinea
Syrian Arab Republic
Angola
Colombia
Grenada
Libyan Arab
Paraguay
Tajikistan
Argentina
Comoros
Guatemala
Jamahiriya
Peru
Tanzania, United
Armenia
Congo
Guinea
Lithuania
Philippines
Republic of
Austria
Congo, Democratic
Guinea-Bissau
Luxembourg
Poland
Thailand
Azerbaijan
Republic of the
Guyana
Madagascar
Portugal
The Former Yugoslav
Bahamas
Costa Rica
Haiti
Malawi
Qatar
Republic of
Bahrain
Côte d'Ivoire
Honduras
Malaysia
Romania
Macedonia
Bangladesh
Croatia
Hungary
Maldives
Russian Federation
Togo
Barbados
Cuba
India
Mali
Rwanda
Tonga
Belarus
Cyprus
Indonesia
Malta
São Tomé and Príncipe
Trinidad and Tobago
Belgium
Czech Republic
Iran
Mauritania
Saudi Arabia
Tunisia
Belize
Denmark
Iraq
Mauritius
Senegal
Turkey
Benin
Djibouti
Ireland
Mexico
Seychelles
Turkmenistan
Bhutan
Dominica
Israel
Moldova, Republic of
Sierra Leone
Uganda
Bolivia
Dominican Republic
Italy
Mongolia
Slovakia
Ukraine
Bosnia and
Ecuador
Jamaica
Morocco
Slovenia
United Arab Emirates
Herzegovina
Egypt
Japan
Mozambique
Somalia
United Kingdom
Botswana
El Salvador
Jordan
Myanmar
South Africa
Uruguay
Brazil
Equatorial Guinea
Kazakhstan
Namibia
Spain
Uzbekistan
Bulgaria
Eritrea
Kenya
Nepal
Sri Lanka
Vanuatu
Burkina Faso
Ethiopia
Korea, Democratic
Netherlands
St. Kitts and Nevis
Venezuela
Burundi
Fiji
People's Republic of
New Zealand
St. Lucia
Vietnam
Cambodia
Finland
Korea, Republic of
Nicaragua
St. Vincent and the
Yemen
Cameroon
France
Kuwait
Niger
Grenadines
Yugoslavia
Cape Verde
Gabon
Kyrgyzstan
Nigeria
Sudan
Zambia
Central African
Gambia
Lao People's
Norway
Suriname
Zimbabwe
Republic
Georgia
Democratic Republic
Oman
Swaziland
cooperation projects, in acquiring the technological base and know-how that will enable them to establish, expand, rehabilitate, and improve the efficiency and productivity of industrial facilities in the main branches of industry. It provides this help through direct assistance to manufacturing enterprises or through the establishment or strengthening of specialized technology centers servicing individual industrial sectors.
UNIDO also extends assistance in the efficient utilization of energy resources by industry, in the industrial-scale production of fuel and feedstock from renewable resources, and in promoting environmentally sustainable industrial development. Continued attention is given to the establishment of pilot and demonstration plants to accelerate the utilization of locally available raw materials, including industrial and agricultural wastes. Particular attention is given to technical assistance in chemical industries and in the production of capital goods, including equipment for telecommunications and transportation, especially in support of rural development and in the manufacture of pesticides, fertilizers, and agricultural equipment.
In order to increase industrial production, developing countries have to make extensive use of planning techniques and preinvestment studies and also need to establish and strengthen institutional infrastructures and support services and the skills required to set up and operate manufacturing enterprises. Institutional infrastructures are particularly critical in order to compensate, at least in part, for the absence of a long tradition of industrial development in most developing countries. There is a continuous demand for the establishment or strengthening of institutions dealing with standardization and quality control, industrial research, small-scale industries, and rural development. The lack of production, managerial, and entrepreneurial skills is frequently the greatest obstacle to industrial development.
Through its technical cooperation programs, UNIDO seeks to assist developing countries, particularly in the development of human resources, by identifying priority areas for industrial training and for the establishment of national institutes for research and development and for training and consultancy that may become centers for training of personnel, including training in management and in the preparation of preinvestment studies, project implementation, and operation of industrial enterprises. UNIDO extends assistance through fellowships, study tours, and group training programs.
Another major focus of UNIDO activities is the acceleration of investment in the private and public sectors of developing countries, in a manner consistent with their national plans and policies, and through the implementation of technical cooperation projects in the field of industrial investment.
Although there is a need for a massive flow of financial and technical resources from outside sources to implement projects necessary to achieve the targets of industrial growth laid down in the plans of developing countries, the lack of sound and well-prepared investment projects backed by suitable entrepreneurs has been a more serious obstacle to the flow of these needed resources than the lack of investment funds. Information is scarce regarding the sources of financing and the identification of enterprises that are suitable and willing to participate in manufacturing projects in developing countries or to redeploy their industrial plants to developing countries. At the same time, there is often a lack of awareness among development finance institutions and entrepreneurs in industrialized and selected developing countries of the possibilities for cooperation with project sponsors in developing countries.
UNIDO seeks to stimulate industrial development in developing countries by promoting cooperation between industrialists in both developed and developing countries in the generation, formulation, and promotion of investment projects through investment promotion services, access to information stored in computer data banks, and links with international, regional, subregional, and national development finance institutions.
UNIDO's Investment Promotion Resources Information System contains thousands of records on industrial investment project proposals, potential partners, development finance institutions, investment-related institutions, and project sponsors. UNIDO also maintains investment service offices in Athens, Vienna, Paris, Cologne, Seoul, Tokyo, Zurich, Warsaw, Washington, and Milan, which serve as a direct link to businesses and governments in developing countries and can be the "eyes and ears" of firms in industrialized countries interested in investment opportunities in developing countries.
Through its Industrial and Technological Information Bank, UNIDO seeks to accelerate the flow of information to developing countries, many of which lack access to such information and to technological trends and advances. It also assists in advancing the capacities of developing countries for acquisition of technology through workshops and advisory services and through its System of Consultations. At both the regional and interregional levels, UNIDO's System of Consultations is an instrument in promoting industrial cooperation among developing countries.