The Sri Lankan industry sector has called for an enhanced role of the UN in its development while the UN praised Sri Lankaโs commitment to sustainable and inclusive industrialization in line with Target 9.2 of the global Sustainable Development Framework.
โItโs great that the Ministry of Industry is committed to the Sustainable Development Frameworkโ said UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Ms. Una McCauley at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. UN Resident Coordinator McCauley was making a courtesy call on the Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen on the eve of 17 August at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Colombo 3. At the discussion, Minister Bathiudeen was joined by his Senior Advisor Ms Himali Jinadasa.
โWe thank UN for its ongoing support to our industry development. Specially, UNIDOโs interest in ushering Inclusive and sustainable industrialization framework to Sri Lanka shall be a great opening for our industriesโ said Minister Bathiudeen, and added: โIt is time that Sri Lanka starts integrating with the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework (UNSDF) closely. We call for enhanced support from UN for sustainable industry development, industrial waste management, green industries, and SME development. We have finalised our National SME Policy and now preparing to submit to Parliament and we thank the ILO in Colombo for the support given to finalise it. As the Resident Coordinator, we also call for your support and intervention to link UNIDO with Ministryโs efforts more closely. The industry reform vision of our Unity Government aims at taking our industries to next level such as robotics and high value addition manufacturing, where UNIDO could help us greatly.โ
SDG 9.2 (referred to as Target 9.2) the sub-category of Sustainable Development Goals of UN that relates to industries. Target 9.2 promotes sustainable industrialization and raise industryโs share of employment and gross domestic product, and in in least developed countries, double industry share.ย Resident Coordinator Ms McCauley in response praised Minister Bathiudeen for his interest in Target 9.2 Framework. โSDG 9.2- itโs great that the Ministry of Industry is focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals, especially at a time when the UN is trying to directly partner with the Government and Ministries in their projects. If the Ministry can identify the areas you would like technical support on, we as the UN can support in sourcing the necessary expertise. We believe that Sri Lanka can utilize success stories from other countries in its industrialization efforts.โ
It is believed that SDG 9 shall also be utilised in major industrial reforms proposed by the Unity Government of Sri Lanka.
Leader of All Ceylon Makkal Congress