SPAIN GIVES US$ 3 MILLION AS SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION TO UNCTAD TECHNICAL COOPERATION ACTIVITIES

The Spanish Ambassador to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Javier Garrigues Florez, and UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi signed today a Memorandum of Understanding by which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain will finance several UNCTAD technical cooperation efforts in 2008 and 2009 with a special voluntary contribution of US$ 3 million.

The Spanish contribution will fund six UNCTAD technical cooperation activities:

1. Strengthening of small- and medium-sized enterprises development and access to financing and insurance in Morocco and Tunisia (US$740,000).
   
2. Support to Empretec networks to promote entrepreneurship, including the installation of new centres in Latin America (Ecuador, Peru, and Dominican Republic); support to the UNCTAD Empretec programme for the preparation of training materials for entrepreneurs, case studies at the national and sectoral levels, analytical inputs, and field missions; regional and subregional Empretec training activities; and development of business linkages in Tanzania and Mozambique (US$1.14 million).
3. Support for the Biotrade Initiative and related issues, in particular activities in Uganda and in the Amazon region, including the national and regional programmes of the countries concerned (US$100,000).
4. Support for the UNCTAD Virtual Institute on Trade and Development, particularly academic programmes at postgraduate level at Latin American universities and in least developed countries (LDCs). A Spanish university will be identified to help in cooperation with Latin American universities (US$500,000).
5. Training activities through the UNCTAD TrainforTrade programme, including course development and delivery, and training of trainers to benefit countries of Central America and the Caribbean, including through the SIECA regional integrated information programme. The contribution (US$400,000) also will be used to extend current training activities undertaken with ALADI. (Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración).
6. Financing of a Spanish associate expert for the preparation of UNCTAD proposals to the Millennium Development Goals-United Nations Development Programme-Spain Fund and tasks related to the participation of UNCTAD in UN assistance plans at the country level (US$120,000).