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KEYNOTE
“To achieve inclusive and sustainable industrial development, all of UNIDO’s tools will be used” Interview with LI Yong, new Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Since taking office in June this year, you have travelled to all the regions of the world to meet with representatives of member states and leaders of industry. One of the things that you have stressed in these meetings is your vision of ‘inclusive and sustainable industrial development’. Could you explain what that is? When I went to the United Nations General Assembly debate in September 2013, I listened carefully to the leaders’ statements about the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental – and the call for a comprehensive list of Sustainable Development Goals. I was impressed that there is a global agreement that our societies and 24 MakingIt
economies must find a path of sustainable development if we want to tackle the challenges of our times. How else can we meet the growing challenges of job creation particularly amongst our youth; advance gender equality and women’s empowerment; address social issues, like education and health; and find solutions to all the looming environmental issues on our planet? How can we possibly achieve all these development goals? For UNIDO, poverty eradication is allimportant. This is the crucial and urgent task, and all member states have agreed that it can only be achieved through strong, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, and the effective integration of the economic, ➤