Vienna, Austria, hosted the 7th UNIDO Least Developed Countries (LDC) Ministerial Conference on November 23-24, 2017. A delegation from the SPbSRIVS joined the event.* About 350 participants from more than 60 countries gathered to discuss how to ensure sustainable development in the least developed countries. LDCs, as defined by the UN, are states with low living standards, weak economies, where people and resources are exposed to natural disasters. Certainly, the population is sorely lacking high-quality pharmaceutical products and services.
A delegation from SPbSRIVS arrived to discuss options for partnerships between businesses and governments of LDCs in the context of medical technologies. Members of the delegation: Andrey Vasiliev, Deputy Director for Economics and Finance, Andrey Dolinkin, Deputy Director for Science. The joint Russian-Nicaraguan venture, Instituto Latinoamericano de Biotecnología MECHNIKOV, was represented by General Director Stanislav Uiba. While speaking at the plenary session “Cooperation for sustainable industrialization”, he emphasized that it is the knowledge transfer that underlies international cooperation in the field of high technologies and enables the development of a scientific and professional school. For a country, this means more than just the available technology transfer, but an impetus for the development of its academia and build-up of a professional base.
Delegates from Ethiopia, headed by the Minister of Industry Dr. Mebrahtu Meles, expressed great interest in applying the experience of their Russian colleagues in the field of technology transfer. Ethiopian economy has grown steadily in recent years. With an attractive environment for investment and international projects, Ethiopia is expected to be able to leave the LDC list within two years. As part of its visit, the Russian delegation also met with Panamanian representatives at the UNIDO event.
At the meeting they discussed the prospects for further development of the Instituto Latinoamericano de Biotecnología MECHNIKOV The Panamanian counterparts noted the utmost importance of this project for the entire region of Latin America and the Caribbean.
About UNIDO. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a specialized agency within the UN system. The main goal of the organization is to promote and accelerate industrialization in developing countries and countries with transition economies, as well as to promote international industrial cooperation.
* LDC countries are located primarily in Africa and Asia, with three in Oceania and one in Latin America.
