On March 12 the Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Edmondo Cirielli, met in Vienna the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Gerd Müller. The meeting reaffirmed the strong and long-standing cooperation between Italy and UNIDO, rooted in a shared vision of inclusive and sustainable industrial development as a driver of stability, prosperity and opportunity. In the year marking the 60th anniversary of the Organization, the meeting was also an occasion to highlight Italy’s significant and constant support for UNIDO, with our country being the second donor in terms of voluntary contributions and the fourth contributor to the regular budget.
Deputy Minister Cirielli underlined in particular the support of the Italian Cooperation for strategic partnerships in Africa, such as the ACT Programme (“Advancing Climate-Resilience and Transformation in African Coffee”), a flagship initiative of the Mattei Plan and of the EU Global Gateway, that, through innovation, dynamism and a multi-actor approach, aims at strengthening climate resilience, boosting local value addition and attracting sustainable private investment in coffee-producing African countries.
