UNIDO Centre for South-South Industrial Coopn launched in India

New Delhi, Feb 15 (UNI) Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Director General Kandeh Yumkella today jointly launched the first UNIDO Centre for South-South Industrial Cooperation (UCSSIC) here.

The centre, which aims to promote greater interaction between developing countries, will exchange expertise and experience, help network institutions and enterprises, 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.

The formal launch of the first such centre by Mr Kamal Nath and Mr Yumkella, DG/UNIDO, comes against the backdrop of the growing need for new institutions and systems to tackle new and critical challenges coming up in trade and investment promotion and industrial development.

Recognising this need, UNIDO proposes to launch South-South Cooperation Centres in some of the more advanced developing countries such as India, China, South Africa, Egypt and Brazil.

UNI