SINCE its establishment in 1966, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization has been working with industries in developing countries to ensure inclusive growth through productivity enhancement, employment creation and income generation. UNIDO’s mandate is ‘inclusive and sustainable industrial development’, which focuses on three thematic priorities: creating shared prosperity, advancing economic competitiveness and safeguarding the environment. The recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG9 to build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation, also reiterate this aim. UNIDO’s relationship with Bangladesh began in 1972 with the establishment of a pilot plastics processing and demonstration centre. Since then, UNIDO has implemented a number of notable projects in various sectors, all directed to enhance productivity and further the comparative advantage of products manufactured in Bangladesh. UNIDO has been integral in the process of converting Bangladesh from a basic commodity-producing economy to one engaging in high-value addition production and pursuing a strategy of diversification. Meeting international product standards and building quality assessment and certifying infrastructure has been a key focus in order to help Bangladesh boost international trade and expand its export markets. The success is reflected by increased trade in its key sectors, such as readymade garments, fisheries and leather. UNIDO has brought together small-scale producers, production units, research institutes, donors and international collaborators for maximum impact and higher value addition. For instance, UNIDO has facilitated collaborations between Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association, University of Fashion and Technology, and the National Institute of Textile Engineering and Research in Bangladesh, and foreign institutes such as the London College of Fashion, Bolton University and Niederrhein University. UNIDO’s assistance to Bangladesh began in the 1970s with projects relating to basic industries (plastics, petro-industries, iron and steel, engineering and chemicals, among others) and subsequently the promotion of small-scale industries. In the 1980s, projects aimed at investment promotion and the strengthening of particular key industries, such as textiles. In the 1990s, the portfolio shifted towards developing standards, testing and conformity in order to promote exports. More recently, from the 2000s, UNIDO’s interventions have adopted an integrated approach, to collectively develop important sectors, improve the quality of necessary infrastructure, and expand trade across sectors. The aim has been to address the quality of manufactured products, to access international markets, to improve product quality, add higher value and create better employment opportunities. Technical cooperation has also been steered towards green industrial development, including environment management and the disposal of polychlorinated biphenyl, renewable energy, energy efficiency, agribusiness development, and women’s economic empowerment. Bangladesh is growing rapidly, and global metrology and calibration standards could help drive this process. In 2010, UNIDO inaugurated the National Metrology Laboratory of the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, acknowledging that Bangladesh had the potential to become a metrology hub for South Asia. One of the most prominent projects implemented by UNIDO in Bangladesh has been the Better Work and Standards Programme. The programme had three components: better work in textiles and garments, Bangladesh Quality Infrastructure and Better Fisheries Quality. This programme has helped Bangladesh to get a fully functional national accreditation body, recognized for the accreditation of testing and calibration laboratories by the Asia-Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation. The body has accredited 35 testing and calibration laboratories dealing with food, textiles, chemical testing and cement testing. It has sponsored a number of high-quality chemical and micro-biological testing labs which have been able to guarantee the quality of Bangladeshi fish products. One of the major successes of the programme was the improvement of food safety throughout the shrimp supply chain. The Food and Veterinary Office has endorsed Bangladesh’s official control and testing systems as equivalent to relevant European Union requirements and lifted the 100% pre-export testing which was imposed in 2009. This project has had a positive spill-over effect on the economy, reflecting the impact of UNIDO’s initiatives. Another example of UNIDO’s assistance in Bangladesh is the Tetra/Pran partnership project to support sustainable small holder farmer milk production. The project aimed to introduce international best practices and knowledge in efficient dairy farming to poor, small-scale dairy farmers, as well to establish a milk collection system allowing the collection and the preservation of growing volumes of high-quality raw milk. The project resulted in a 37 per cent increase of average milk production, a 35 per cent improvement in quality indication, and a 33 per cent monthly increase in income. UNIDO’s assistance to the tannery sector has been instrumental in motivating tannery owners to produce leather and leather products in an environmentally friendly manner under the Re-Tie Project (2009–2012). The project successfully demonstrated that good quality leather can be produced with less use of ammonia, chromium, chemical, water, electricity and natural gases. The project also provided tannery owners with the knowledge of how to minimize river water pollution and improve occupational safety and health at the workplace. Initiatives like these have played an important role in strengthening and diversifying the country’s production and export base, highlighting the importance of the UNIDO-Bangladesh cooperation. Looking forward, UNIDO is developing new projects in the areas of the environmentally sound disposal of persistent organic pollutants in ship breaking, tannery waste management, skills development in the jute and textile industries, and creative industries. UNIDO will thus be instrumental in developing industrial sectors that target poverty alleviation, employment generation and economic growth. UNIC, Dhaka. Li Yong is the director general, UNIDO.
