UNCTAD to contribute to Iraq’s reconstruction

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has signed an agreement under which it will join reconstruction efforts in Iraq, according to a UN statement. The UNCTAD “signed an agreement today giving it access to a fund of $1.3 billion for the reconstruction and development of Iraq,” read the statement that was published on Friday on the official web site of the UN News Center. “The UN Development Group Iraq Trust Fund (UNDG ITF) is one of two funds created in 2004 to help donor nations channel their resources and coordinate their support for rebuilding the violence-ridden country.” “UNCTAD, which joined 21 other participating UN Organizations in providing support to Iraq within a common UN framework, will access UNDG ITF resources to support its key assistance programmes – the Automated System of Customs Data programme and a science, technology and innovation policy review (STIP),” the statement noted. “The STIP review will provide policy support to Iraq for shaping and establishing a national science, technology and innovation system to help reconstruct the nation’s economy and accelerate its development, with a view to becoming a functioning knowledge-based, globalized economy,” it added. “While Iraq’s efforts in science, technology and innovation were once among the best in the region, the troubled country’s intellectual infrastructure has been decimated in more recent years. UNCTAD estimates that 80 per cent of the country’s universities and research institutions are not fully operational, and large numbers of Iraqi engineers and scientists have left the country.” “A memorandum of understanding on the project was signed at a formal ceremony – attended by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – in Geneva on 1 September by Iraqi Minister of Science and Technology Raid Fahmi and UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi,” the statement added. SS (S) 1