NNA - Caretaker Minister of Industry, MP George Boushkian, left for Austria this morning to represent Lebanon in the twentieth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), which is being held at the organization’s general headquarters in the capital, Vienna, at the level of ministers and heads of participating delegations from 175 countries.

The session opens tomorrow and continues until Friday, with a work agenda that will tackle most importantly the holding of a forum to discuss topics related to industry development, gender equality, women’s empowerment, the sustainable development agenda by 2030, reform of the network of field offices, UNIDO regional strategies and activities related to digital transformation and innovation, artificial intelligence, structural and sectoral skills related to agribusiness, capacity building, and job creation.

Minister Boushkian revealed that he pins great importance on participating in this session and on the meetings he is scheduled to hold with the Director-General of the Organization, Gerd Müller, those responsible for programs with Lebanon, and with a number of ministers and heads of participating delegations to discuss developing industrial and exchange relations with Lebanon.

“It will also be an occasion to raise Lebanon’s voice from the platform of an international organization affiliated with the United Nations, and to convey the challenges it faces from the pressure of the Syrian displacement on the national economy, the suffering that the Lebanese are experiencing, and the loss of lives and properties as a result of the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, which prevents industrial initiatives and investments in the southern regions near the border," Boushkian asserted.

===========R.Sh.