Elena Kupchina elected Chair of UNIDO General Conference 17th session

27 ноября 2017

Elena Kupchina was elected Chair of the 17th session of the UNIDO General Conference. UNIDO, or the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, is a specialized agency of the UN. The organization conducts research in industrial development and implements technical assistance projects in its member states. In recent years, UNIDO has been active in such areas as energy, energy efficiency, environmental protection, job creation, and the empowerment of women. This is the first time that a representative of Belarus will chair a session of the General Conference. The crew of Belteleradiocompany’s TV News Agency was the first to congratulate the Belarusian diplomat.

Elena Kupchina, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Austria, the Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna and to the OSCE: "Thank you very much for all your congratulations! Indeed, this is a great honor for my country and, of course, for me personally. It is worth noting that members of UNIDO entrusted to Belarus to sign a contract with Director General Li Yong who, at the beginning of the session, was reelected to this post for the next four years. In terms of practical interaction with UNIDO, it is enough, in my opinion, to cite only two examples. The organization is an important platform for the exchange of information and experience. So, last week, within the framework of UNIDO the first regional conference of the CIS countries on sustainable industrial development and promoting sustainable solutions in energy and green technologies was held, where a delegation of Belarus also participated. Secondly, this year, UNIDO is implementing in Belarus two technical assistance projects with a total budget of about 2 million US dollars. One of them concerns the modernization and development of enterprises that manufacture auto components; the other one is about setting up an agro-industrial park in Grodno Region. And, as we see, these are very interesting and useful projects for Belarus."

At the 17th session of UNIDO General Conference, the Belarusian delegation submitted to the General Conference a draft resolution that envisages the development and implementation by UNIDO of a long-term strategy for interaction with middle-income countries. In addition to Belarus, this group includes 96 out of the 168 UNIDO member states.