site.btaBulgaria Elected Member of UNIDO Industrial Development Board

Bulgaria has been elected a member of the Industrial Development Board of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) during the 21st session of the UNIDO General Conference, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on November 23-27, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday. Bulgaria’s Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, Ambassador Ivan Gospodinov, was elected Vice President of the General Conference, the Ministry added.

During the forum, Deputy Foreign Minister Nikolay Pavlov highlighted UNIDO’s contribution to helping Member States achieve inclusive and sustainable economic development, eradicate hunger, and reduce poverty through industrialization. Bulgaria supports these goals through its commitment to the green transition and climate neutrality by 2050, by promoting agriculture as a driver of sustainable development, and by placing innovation and digitalization at the core of its economic policy, Pavlov said, as quoted by his Ministry.

He said that in the current geopolitical and environmental context, Bulgaria aims to strengthen its industrial base to ensure supply chain security and innovation capacity. Over the years, Bulgaria’s cooperation with UNIDO has evolved in line with the country’s economic development, transitioning from being a recipient of development assistance to increasingly establishing itself as a donor country contributing to more balanced and equitable global development.

On the sidelines of the conference, Deputy Minister Pavlov held meetings with UNIDO leadership and key Bulgarian partners, including UNIDO Deputy Director General Fatou Haidara; Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development and Digitalization Eugeniu Osmochescu; Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Andrii Teliupa; and Nikolaus Marschik, Secretary General of Austria’s Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.