Date: 28/11/2006
Source: Department of Trade and Industry
Title: Mpahlwa: United Nations Industrial Development Organisation
Speech by Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Mandisi Mpahlwa, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary celebrations of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), sub-regional office, Tshwane
Your Excellencies, ambassadors and heads of United Nations (UN) funds, programmes and agencies,
Representatives of donor agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs),
Representatives of small and medium enterprises (SMEs),
Senior officials,
Other distinguished guests and friends,
I am delighted to participate in this very important occasion celebrating the 40th anniversary of the UNIDO. It is appropriate that these celebrations are taking place not just at the UNIDO headquarters in Vienna, but also in centres around the world. We are particularly pleased that stakeholders within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region are among those invited to celebrate such a milestone event.
The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) is strongly of the view that UNIDO's mandate and its activities remain extremely relevant in assisting sub-Saharan Africa confront one of the major challenges facing it. I refer to the challenge of transforming our economies from producers and exporters merely of primary products into producers and exporters of a broader range of value added products. Only by strengthening the too often weak productive capacities of African industrial sectors, can our continent hope to move from the periphery to the mainstream of global development. Without at least beginning to affect such a shift, Africa will not have a sustainable basis to attain its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
In seeking to fulfil its mandate of promoting industrial development and international industrial co-operation, UNIDO has developed various service modules, which we believe can play a useful catalytic role in supporting efforts to strengthen industrial capacity.
The fact that UNIDO has committed itself to making sub-Saharan Africa its focus area over the next 10 to 15 years augurs well for industrial development strategies within the region.
Industrial development and increasing participation in international trade have long been identified as key contributors to sustainable economic growth. Strengthening industrial supply capacity is, moreover, an essential response to trade liberalisation. As part of its contribution to assisting in strengthening the productive capacity of developing countries, UNIDO has amongst its offerings a service module that deals with issues of industrial competitiveness and trade. This assists with capacity building in the areas of standards, metrology, testing, accreditation and quality assurance as well as in respect of sanitary and phyto-sanitary issues, all of which are aimed at improving compliance of export products to international market requirements by improving the quality of production and thereby reducing the potentially negative impact of technical barriers to trade.
Even though many countries in the SADC region have significant mineral and agricultural resources, the exploitation of these resources has not translated into proportionate gains in employment creation or poverty reduction. This is also linked to the fact that industrial development in sub-Saharan Africa has lagged behind the rest of the world including that of other more rapidly growing developing regions.
UNIDO does, of course, recognise the potential benefits of rich agricultural and mineral resources. However, it cautions against reliance on such resources in their primary form, stressing instead the greater benefits that can accrue from strengthening the backward and forward linkages within minerals beneficiation and agro-industries from raising productivity and increasing the potential for development of value added sectors. Support and advice is offered by UNIDO to private sector, traditional agro-industries and State decision making bodies in various sub sectors through the Agro-Industries Service Module.
Despite the well meaning interventions to promote resource based industries, we cannot ignore the reality that the economies that have grown fastest are those that have diversified and reduced reliance on low value, low technology products. Growing global income, technological advances and the straddling across countries of production chains have all contributed to creating a reality in which it is high technology products that have shown the fastest growth in manufactured exports, with medium technology products retaining a high but steady share and low technology and resource based products declining in world trade overall.
South Africa is in the process of developing a National Industrial Policy Framework (NIPF) aimed at identifying and unlocking growth and employment constraints in the economy with a particular emphasis on growing non-traditional tradable goods and services due to their relative intensity in low skilled labour and potential for value addition. Such a framework needs to be complemented by improved financial and technical support for the south-south trade, and especially for trade with and within sub-Saharan Africa. In this regard we welcome the south-south co-operation that is being championed by UNIDO. This, significantly, does not envisage disengagement from north-south co-operation. It enhances co-operation among countries of the south as a basis for strengthening capacity to promote more beneficial relations between the southern countries and the north, and within the global economic system generally. Although the leaders in this regard are currently located in east Asia, SADC countries with the assistance of UNIDO need to more aggressively pursue greater, equitable and mutually beneficial co-operation with leading countries of the south such as India, Brazil and of course China.
Another key factor that can promote sustained growth is the establishment of the physical and institutional infrastructure necessary to satisfy the increasingly stringent environmental requirements necessitated by the threat of climate change. The cleaner production centres promoted by UNIDO aimed at encouraging more environmentally friendly production techniques play a crucial role in this regard. Through this programme UNIDO can assist governments to create the institutional framework that will enable countries to support a transition to higher standards of environmental sustainability.
A key stakeholder in any industrial development initiative is, of course, the private sector. The comprehensive offerings within UNIDO's Private Sector Development Service Module, promote institutional and regulatory support for the business community.
UNIDO alliances, clusters and networks can also be leveraged by SMEs to benefit from the technological and managerial expertise of larger corporations within UNIDO networks.
Parallel to the development of the National Industrial Policy Framework, South Africa is also developing a strategy aimed at accelerating a more regionally diversified industrial development. As a critical part of this, we need to identify appropriate regional industrial development support measures that can enhance comparative advantage and growth potential of regions outside the existing industrial heartlands of South Africa and UNIDO's technical know-how and experience, which UNIDO expressed willingness to share with us, will contribute massively in achieving this goal. This will be the subject of an Africa Productive Capacity Initiative (APCI) Conference from 6 to 8 December 2006. But we also look forward to further consultation with and input from UNIDO in this regard.
Other practical initiatives, where UNIDO through its sub-regional office has worked closely with the South African Government include, but are not limited to the following:
* UNIDO has assisted in defining the potential for developing the forest industry and downstream processing in the Eastern Cape province. A UNIDO expert from Vienna visited the Eastern Cape province to assess the needs relating to the expansion of existing and the creation of new SMEs in the wood industry sector. A report was submitted that, among other things, identified the need for a thorough market analysis that would inform the formulation of a project of assistance.
* UNIDO has supported a review of the Work Place Challenges (WPC) programme implemented by the National Productivity Institute (NPI). UNIDO participated in several meetings and has been asked to be part of the Review Committee.
* UNIDO has been asked to facilitate the inception of the newly appointed Small Business Advisory Council (SBAC).
* UNIDO has assisted in the development of aloe processing in the Dutyini area in the Eastern Cape province.
* UNIDO has met with the Enterprise and Industry Development Division (EIDD) of the dti to identify potential areas of assistance and support in line with the newly formulated National Industrial Policy Framework. A joint workshop has been scheduled for January 2007 to exchange relevant information in order to assist in conceptualising the new integrated programme for South Africa. The integrated programme will ensure the coherence and alignment of UNIDO activities with the industrial strategy of South Africa.
At the Department of Science and Technology: * UNIDO has assisted with the organisation of a technology foresight training workshop and a trends conference based on the UNIDO technology foresight programme.
* Discussions have been held on the development of activities in energy for productive uses, energy efficiency in industry and renewable energies as well as in biotechnology (taking into account the establishment of the third International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Centre to be based in Cape Town).
These examples highlight just some of the ways in which UNIDO with its resources and worldwide experience remains uniquely placed to help and support developing countries to address challenges of industrial development. We believe that UNIDO can continue to play an important role in enabling our region to become a major player in global trade and in the industrial development arena.
I hardly need to remind UNIDO that life begins at 40! May the next 40 years of partnership with UNIDO see Africa and the current developing world as a whole; emerge as significant forces in global industrial development.
Happy birthday UNIDO!
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
28 November 2006
Source: Department of Trade and Industry
Title: Mpahlwa: United Nations Industrial Development Organisation
Speech by Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Mandisi Mpahlwa, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary celebrations of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), sub-regional office, Tshwane
Your Excellencies, ambassadors and heads of United Nations (UN) funds, programmes and agencies,
Representatives of donor agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs),
Representatives of small and medium enterprises (SMEs),
Senior officials,
Other distinguished guests and friends,
I am delighted to participate in this very important occasion celebrating the 40th anniversary of the UNIDO. It is appropriate that these celebrations are taking place not just at the UNIDO headquarters in Vienna, but also in centres around the world. We are particularly pleased that stakeholders within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region are among those invited to celebrate such a milestone event.
The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) is strongly of the view that UNIDO's mandate and its activities remain extremely relevant in assisting sub-Saharan Africa confront one of the major challenges facing it. I refer to the challenge of transforming our economies from producers and exporters merely of primary products into producers and exporters of a broader range of value added products. Only by strengthening the too often weak productive capacities of African industrial sectors, can our continent hope to move from the periphery to the mainstream of global development. Without at least beginning to affect such a shift, Africa will not have a sustainable basis to attain its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
In seeking to fulfil its mandate of promoting industrial development and international industrial co-operation, UNIDO has developed various service modules, which we believe can play a useful catalytic role in supporting efforts to strengthen industrial capacity.
The fact that UNIDO has committed itself to making sub-Saharan Africa its focus area over the next 10 to 15 years augurs well for industrial development strategies within the region.
Industrial development and increasing participation in international trade have long been identified as key contributors to sustainable economic growth. Strengthening industrial supply capacity is, moreover, an essential response to trade liberalisation. As part of its contribution to assisting in strengthening the productive capacity of developing countries, UNIDO has amongst its offerings a service module that deals with issues of industrial competitiveness and trade. This assists with capacity building in the areas of standards, metrology, testing, accreditation and quality assurance as well as in respect of sanitary and phyto-sanitary issues, all of which are aimed at improving compliance of export products to international market requirements by improving the quality of production and thereby reducing the potentially negative impact of technical barriers to trade.
Even though many countries in the SADC region have significant mineral and agricultural resources, the exploitation of these resources has not translated into proportionate gains in employment creation or poverty reduction. This is also linked to the fact that industrial development in sub-Saharan Africa has lagged behind the rest of the world including that of other more rapidly growing developing regions.
UNIDO does, of course, recognise the potential benefits of rich agricultural and mineral resources. However, it cautions against reliance on such resources in their primary form, stressing instead the greater benefits that can accrue from strengthening the backward and forward linkages within minerals beneficiation and agro-industries from raising productivity and increasing the potential for development of value added sectors. Support and advice is offered by UNIDO to private sector, traditional agro-industries and State decision making bodies in various sub sectors through the Agro-Industries Service Module.
Despite the well meaning interventions to promote resource based industries, we cannot ignore the reality that the economies that have grown fastest are those that have diversified and reduced reliance on low value, low technology products. Growing global income, technological advances and the straddling across countries of production chains have all contributed to creating a reality in which it is high technology products that have shown the fastest growth in manufactured exports, with medium technology products retaining a high but steady share and low technology and resource based products declining in world trade overall.
South Africa is in the process of developing a National Industrial Policy Framework (NIPF) aimed at identifying and unlocking growth and employment constraints in the economy with a particular emphasis on growing non-traditional tradable goods and services due to their relative intensity in low skilled labour and potential for value addition. Such a framework needs to be complemented by improved financial and technical support for the south-south trade, and especially for trade with and within sub-Saharan Africa. In this regard we welcome the south-south co-operation that is being championed by UNIDO. This, significantly, does not envisage disengagement from north-south co-operation. It enhances co-operation among countries of the south as a basis for strengthening capacity to promote more beneficial relations between the southern countries and the north, and within the global economic system generally. Although the leaders in this regard are currently located in east Asia, SADC countries with the assistance of UNIDO need to more aggressively pursue greater, equitable and mutually beneficial co-operation with leading countries of the south such as India, Brazil and of course China.
Another key factor that can promote sustained growth is the establishment of the physical and institutional infrastructure necessary to satisfy the increasingly stringent environmental requirements necessitated by the threat of climate change. The cleaner production centres promoted by UNIDO aimed at encouraging more environmentally friendly production techniques play a crucial role in this regard. Through this programme UNIDO can assist governments to create the institutional framework that will enable countries to support a transition to higher standards of environmental sustainability.
A key stakeholder in any industrial development initiative is, of course, the private sector. The comprehensive offerings within UNIDO's Private Sector Development Service Module, promote institutional and regulatory support for the business community.
UNIDO alliances, clusters and networks can also be leveraged by SMEs to benefit from the technological and managerial expertise of larger corporations within UNIDO networks.
Parallel to the development of the National Industrial Policy Framework, South Africa is also developing a strategy aimed at accelerating a more regionally diversified industrial development. As a critical part of this, we need to identify appropriate regional industrial development support measures that can enhance comparative advantage and growth potential of regions outside the existing industrial heartlands of South Africa and UNIDO's technical know-how and experience, which UNIDO expressed willingness to share with us, will contribute massively in achieving this goal. This will be the subject of an Africa Productive Capacity Initiative (APCI) Conference from 6 to 8 December 2006. But we also look forward to further consultation with and input from UNIDO in this regard.
Other practical initiatives, where UNIDO through its sub-regional office has worked closely with the South African Government include, but are not limited to the following:
* UNIDO has assisted in defining the potential for developing the forest industry and downstream processing in the Eastern Cape province. A UNIDO expert from Vienna visited the Eastern Cape province to assess the needs relating to the expansion of existing and the creation of new SMEs in the wood industry sector. A report was submitted that, among other things, identified the need for a thorough market analysis that would inform the formulation of a project of assistance.
* UNIDO has supported a review of the Work Place Challenges (WPC) programme implemented by the National Productivity Institute (NPI). UNIDO participated in several meetings and has been asked to be part of the Review Committee.
* UNIDO has been asked to facilitate the inception of the newly appointed Small Business Advisory Council (SBAC).
* UNIDO has assisted in the development of aloe processing in the Dutyini area in the Eastern Cape province.
* UNIDO has met with the Enterprise and Industry Development Division (EIDD) of the dti to identify potential areas of assistance and support in line with the newly formulated National Industrial Policy Framework. A joint workshop has been scheduled for January 2007 to exchange relevant information in order to assist in conceptualising the new integrated programme for South Africa. The integrated programme will ensure the coherence and alignment of UNIDO activities with the industrial strategy of South Africa.
At the Department of Science and Technology: * UNIDO has assisted with the organisation of a technology foresight training workshop and a trends conference based on the UNIDO technology foresight programme.
* Discussions have been held on the development of activities in energy for productive uses, energy efficiency in industry and renewable energies as well as in biotechnology (taking into account the establishment of the third International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Centre to be based in Cape Town).
These examples highlight just some of the ways in which UNIDO with its resources and worldwide experience remains uniquely placed to help and support developing countries to address challenges of industrial development. We believe that UNIDO can continue to play an important role in enabling our region to become a major player in global trade and in the industrial development arena.
I hardly need to remind UNIDO that life begins at 40! May the next 40 years of partnership with UNIDO see Africa and the current developing world as a whole; emerge as significant forces in global industrial development.
Happy birthday UNIDO!
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
28 November 2006
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