UNIDO Centre for South-South Industrial Coopn launched

New Delhi, Feb 15 (UNI) Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath today launched the first UNIDO Centre for South-South Industrial Cooperation (UCSSIC) set up with the aim of sharing the industrial expertise of India and China with the less developed countries of Asia and Africa.

Noting that globalisation has made it necessary for all countries to be globally competitive, at the same time, he said it must be implemented in a fair and equitable manner.

"How the South responds to the challenges of globalisation is crucial and lies at the heart of its success," Mr Kamal Nath said in his keynote address at the launch.

Seeing the mutual benefit for all South countries through today's initiative, the Minister said "India has as much to learn as to teach, as much as to receive as to give" adding that, "we see the South-South centre as a project which is global in its reach and scope." Sharing his perspective on the importance of the Centre, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Director General Kandeh Yumkella said the Centre would replicate the best practices of India, China, Malaysia and Indonesia which had taken more people out of poverty through private-driven enterprise in partnership with the Government.

He said recent initiatives heralded a new UNIDO, with focus on linkages between industrial development and trade especially through value-addition and on innovations in technology which would help to generate more jobs and eradicate poverty in developing countries of Asia and Africa. "Industrialisation is needed for growth," he added.

Both emphasised the need to ensure that the benefits of industrial growth are more evenly spread. They also underlined the importance of the Centre as a collective response and approach of the South to the challenges of globalisation.

Outlining the need for cooperation between the South countries in the face of increasing globalisation, he said most of the LDCs wanted to scale their economies through value addition of their products which would mean growth and jobs for their people. In this context, he expressed interest in bio-fuels such as jatropha which was dubbed as "clean fuel", India's successful micro finance experiment or the use of neem products.

The centre has already identified 60 areas where technology and expertise could be shared. The centre will exchange expertise and experience, help institutions and enterprises network, replicate best practices to reduce poverty and strengthen national and local innovation systems.

Today, several developing countries are major new players in global industry and trade, and are together known simply as the South. The share of the South in world manufacturing and world exports has doubled in the past 25 years, as seen in rising South-South trade.

Apart from technical expertise, India will be sharing personnel and provide funding for the UCSSIC office which will come up in the Sirifort institutional area of South Delhi.

UNIDO proposes to launch similar centres in the more advanced developing countries such as China, South Africa, Egypt and Brazil.

UNI