Vienna Chapter
On behalf of the G77 and China, I am pleased to express to you,
Excellency, our sincere congratulations on your election as Chairman of
the 16th session of the PBC. At the same time, I would like to thank your
predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Alojz Némethy, for his excellent
job in chairing the work of the last PBC.
The group commends the Secretariat for the preparation of the
documents and expresses its appreciation to the Director-General, Mr.
Carlos Magariños, for his introductory statement and his wise
leadership. The Group wishes to comment on the agenda items 3 to 9 and I
will express the views of the Group on each Item in due time.
The Group welcomes the new format of the External Auditor report as
presented in document PBC 16/4.
The Group finds that the External Auditor's report contains several
issues of great importance, in particular, points relating to the
technical co-operation activities, management, budgeting and
administration. In this respect, we are paying much attention to the
recommendations in the report and we will be following the process of
their implementation.
The Group has noted with concern the facts pointed out in the
External Auditor's Report on the ratio between the estimated delivery and
the total expenditures since the biennium 1994-1995, and the decreasing
funds from UNDP which traditionally has been a major partner and source of
funding. From USD 195.5 million in the biennium 1990-1991 funding from
UNDP decreased to USD 34.6 million for the biennium 1998-1999. Similar
drastic reductions have taken place in the finances from Trust Funds and
IDF. The financing of the regular programme of technical cooperation has
also decreased by about 27 per cent compared to the biennium 1990-1991.
The Group is of the opinion that a lot of improvement can be achieved
and we are fully confident that the Secretariat shall take the necessary
steps to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the Organization.
The Group is concerned that the financial situation of UNIDO continues
to be serious with adverse effects on the operational activities of the
Organization. We therefore call, once again, upon all Member States to pay
their arrears and their assessed contributions in full and on time.
The G-77 and China urges both the current and previous Member States
which are in arrears to settle their dues without further delay.
The G-77 and China takes note of document IDB.23/5 PBC.16/6 and the
chapter III (E) of annual report regarding the progress made on mobilising
financial resources for Technical co-operation program.
The Group commends the secretariat for its efforts in mobilising
extrabudgetary funds for UNIDO's Technical co-operation activities.
However, the Group of 77 and China is aware of scarcity of funds and
recognises that it is a shared responsibility of all member States
together with UNIDO to mobilise adequate resources, in order to enable
UNIDO to deliver its services which are on high demand from its clients.
The 22nd session of IDB adopted the decision IDB.22/Dec.2 on financing the
integrated technical co-operation programs in developing countries with a
view to increasing Member States participation in Industrial Development
Fund in order to render its resources adequate and more assured. The Group
believes that, for UNIDO to discharge its mandate it is absolutely
essential to ensure that its extrabudgetary resources are more
predictable.
The Group seizes this opportunity to thank the Chairperson of the
Intersessional working group, H.E. Ms. Irene Freudenschuss-Reichl for the
Interim report contained in document PBC.16/10.
The Group participated constructively in the work of the
Intersessional working group, bearing in mind the critical financial
situation of UNIDO and the need to address it.
The Group considered the options proposed and exchanged letters with
the Secretariat requesting more information with a view to arriving to a
consensus.
The Group reiterates its readiness to continue the negotiation
process to enable the Intersessional Working Group to forward appropriate
recommendations through IDB for adoption at the 9th session of the General
Conference.
The Group wishes to commend the Secretariat for the preparation of the
document PBC 16/3 and feels that option 2 " Average United Nations
rate for the available period in the biennium " seems to satisfy the
requirements in the best manner by attempting to even out the impact of
monthly fluctuations.
With regard to the information contained in document PBC.16/9
entitled " Transition to a single currency system: Changes in the
definition of major objects of expenditure", the Group still needs
clarification on the issue of the link between the transition to a single
currency system and the redefinition of major objects of expenditure.
The Group recalls that this issue was discussed at the level of the
Intersessional Working Group on the amendment of financial regulations.
The results of these discussions should be transmitted to the Policy
Making Organs in due time for further consideration.
The Group of 77 and China has taken note of document IDB23/4-PBC.16/5
and wishes to express its concern that no indication was given about the
priorities of the Organisation for the medium term framework program
2002-2005, especially for developing countries, regarding Technical
co-operation activities to be provided by UNIDO. We similarly would hope
to see in the subsequent document:
- What are the performance indicators for the executed programs?
- What is the level of implementation of the approved integrated
programs?
- What are the activities performed by the field offices and what is
the future of those offices?
- Though the Integrated Programme remains the nucleus of the UNIDO
Programme Framework, the Group of 77 and China recognizes the need to
support 'stand-alone' services when required by Member States.
The Group also noted that there has been delay in the redeployment of
international staff to Field Offices. In order to make effective the
organisational restructuring of UNIDO, higher priority should be given to
this matter.
The group recalls all international initiatives, in particular the
South Summit, which took place in Havana, Cuba, last April, as well as the
G7 Summit and the Global Compact high-level event, sponsored by H.E. the
Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, aiming at
encouraging all relevant parties to work together to address the
Globalization's challenges.
The Group would like to underscore the important role of UNIDO in
assisting developing countries to built competitive industrial capacities
to overcome their marginalization and to improve market access in order to
eradicate poverty.
The Group reiterates its full support and appreciation for the
Organization.
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