The Italian government announced on Friday earmarking euro 4.9 million to finance projects to be carried out by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region, as well as in Ethiopia and Mozambique. An agreement was signed in Vienna today between Italy and UNIDO.
Italy will contribute euro 600,000 to a European Union (EU) project in MENA, focusing on fostering entrepreneurial cooperation in the cultural and creative industry, which is expected to serve as an initial step for further and larger scale projects to be supported by financial institutions to enhance employment opportunities and inclusive growth in the region.
Another project worth euro972,000 is expected to help promote female entrepreneurship for inclusive and sustainable industrial development in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Tunisia, and the UAE.
UNIDO will offer its technical assistance to the MENA Business Women Network, which consists of ten national businesswomen’s organizations, representing almost 2,500 members. In Lebanon, a project worth euro 855,000 will support host communities in the North of the country and in the Bekaa Valley affected by the high influx of Syrian refugees. In Ethiopia, the Italian funding will allow UNIDO to focus on developing productive work for young people, especially women, through promoting micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The three-year-long project, worth euro 600,000, will assist the government of Ethiopia to create new jobs. In addition to this, financing will cover another project in Ethiopia, worth euro 1.5 million, for improving the sustainability and inclusiveness of the Ethiopian coffee value chain through developing public-private partnerships. As for Mozambique, UNIDO’s Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) in Italy will help with technical assistance for SMEs in the agricultural sector. The project, which has a total budget of euro 400,000, was developed in response to a request from the Mozambique government.
Source : KUNA Kuwait News agency
