CIDCA vice-chairman meets with UNIDO deputy director general

Zhao Fengtao, vice-chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), met with Deputy Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Zou Ciyong in Beijing on Jan 24. 

The discussion focused mainly on advancing the development of the China-Africa (Ethiopia)-United Nations (Industrial Development Organization) Center of Excellence.

Zhao said the center was a major outcome of last year's Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which serves as an innovative and important example of China's international development cooperation. Through the joint efforts of all parties, the center has achieved early results in three key areas of industrialization, agricultural modernization and human resources development cooperation. The CIDCA is ready to work with the UNIDO to establish and improve management mechanisms, explore personnel exchanges, deepen project cooperation and expand partnerships, in order to build the center into a platform for incubation of multilateral cooperation, a pilot platform for innovative cooperation methods, and a platform for exhibiting outcomes of bilateral cooperation, Zhao said. These efforts aim to advance the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Development Initiative in an integrated manner, and contribute to the building of an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era, he added. 

Zou thanked the CIDCA for its support for the UNIDO's work, saying the CIDCA is one of the UNIDO's most important partners. The center is a flagship platform for South-South cooperation and tripartite cooperation, which has yielded fruitful cooperation results with high efficiency, he said. The UNIDO is willing to further deepen exchanges and cooperation with the CIDCA in the joint building of the center, strive to benefit more African people with more practical projects, and accelerate the realization of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, he said. 

Directors-general of the CIDCA's Department of International Cooperation Li Ming and Department of Personnel Zhang Guixuan also attended the meeting.