VIENNA, 23 November 2022 – At the opening of the fiftieth session of the Industrial Development Board (IDB), Director General Gerd Müller briefed representatives of UNIDO’s Member States about the recently completed restructuring of the organization, saying he was making UNIDO fit for the future. 

Müller said, “I have implemented a reorganization to modernize UNIDO to become more effective and provide the better services that you, our Member States, are asking for. We are decreasing operating costs. We are developing new partnerships, with new departments devoted to more engagement with the private sector and financial institutions. We are flattening hierarchies and preparing the ground for more career opportunities for young talents.”

Over the three days of deliberations and discussions, the members of the IDB welcomed the inclusive and transparent consultative process to develop the UNIDO Climate Change Strategy and requested UNIDO to incorporate the outcomes and initiatives adopted at the UNFCCC COP27 in the Strategy and its action plan. Member States also commended UNIDO for organizing consultations on the circular economy and expressed hopes that the global consultations to be held in 2023 would result in policy-relevant and actionable recommendations.

Members of the IDB requested UNIDO to strengthen collaboration with middle-income countries to enable the transformation of industrial systems, avoid the middle-income trap, and advance the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. They asked for more to be done on facilitating technology transfer and capacity-building, as well as South-South and triangular cooperation.

At the closing session, Director General Müller expressed his thanks for the many expressions of support for the reform process he has initiated. He also informed the representatives that he was preparing to travel to Niger to attend the African Union Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification, and declared, ”We need to speed up the implementation of the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa. We need to move from strategies and roadmaps to concrete implementation!”

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