Vice President Berewa Leads Delegation To The United Nations Industrial Developmment Organisation (UNIDO),
VIENNA, AUSTRIA, 1ST - 10TH DECEMBER 2003

On the invitation extended to His Excellency the President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and the Government of Sierra Leone by the Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, (UNIDO), Mr. Carlos Margarinos, the Hon. Vice President, Mr. S.E Berewa led a Six Man Delegation to the 10th General Conference of UNIDO in Vienna, Austria, which among others, included: -

1. Hon. S.E Berewa, Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone
2. The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr.Kadi Sesay
3. Sierra Leone's Ambassador to Germany, Mr. Umaru Wurie
4. Mrs. Nancy Tengbeh, Senior Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Trade and Industry

The Conference, which was attended, by about five Heads and Deputy Heads of State and UNIDO Country members world wide had as its theme "Industry and the Millennium Development Goals". The programme for the Conference included plenary sessions with round table discussions, debates and meetings on the aforementioned theme. Particular emphasis was placed on the issues of post crisis industrial rehabilitation and reconstruction; promoting investment in developing countries, (with special emphasis on Africa) - Challenges, Opportunities and Experiences; and making trade work for the poor (stimulating the real economy's response).

During the opening session the Vice President Hon. S.E. Berewa, on behalf of His Excellency the President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Kabbah, made a statement in which he highlighted the trend of events in Sierra Leone, from the war period to the National Recovery period and called on UNIDO and other development partners to help Sierra Leone rebuild its shattered economy.

The Minister of Trade And Industry Dr. Kadi Sesay who was one of the panellists on the Round Table on Post Crisis Industrial Rehabilitation and Reconstruction shared with the audience the experiences of Sierra Leone in the aforementioned area. She outlined the strategies which the Government, with the support of the donor community, was using for it National Recovery Programme and which has been characterised as very successful. She then made a case for early intervention by organisations like UNIDO in the early stages of developing programmes for countries in post conflict situations, like Sierra Leone. She said it was appropriate for donors to intervene during the early stages of assessing the real needs of the country in order to facilitate the drawing up of a comprehensive National Recovery Programme, which will have inputs from both the owners of the programmes and the donors, so as to create the desired impact on poverty alleviation.

Meetings with Representatives of Various Organisations/Delegations

The Sierra Leone delegation, with the assistance of Sierra Leone's Ambassador to Germany, who is also accredited to Austria, H.E. Umaru Wurie, the Consul General of Sierra Leone in Vienna, Dr. Wolfang Breitenthaler and Dr. Yumkella of UNIDO, was able to hold meetings with representatives from various countries and organisations, which among others included the following:

i The Director General of UNIDO, Mr. Carlos Magarinos

The Director General of UNIDO, Mr. Carlos Margarinos and Vice President Solomon E. Berewa signed a Joint Communiqué for a UNIDO Integrated Programme for Sierra Leone entitled "Sierra Leone Post Conflict SME Support Programme for Industrial Development and Poverty Alleviation," estimated to cost about US$7,000,000 (Seven Million United States Dollars)."

The overall objective of the Integrated Programme is to assist the Government in its post-war recovery process through support to micro, small and medium-scale industries and private sector development projects, as the engines of growth, while giving due attention to quality and assessing agro-processing industries specifically.

The main component of the programme includes:

SME Development Support; Trade facilitation through Quality Improvement, Development and Identification; and

Support to Regional Production Centres;

The Director General of UNIDO Mr. Carlos Magarinos demonstrated his Organisation's commitment to the Sierra Leone Integrated Programme when he informed the Vice President that UNIDO will consider the possibility to allocate an appropriate contribution of its own resources to facilitate/launch the implementation of various components of the integrated programme in 2004, whilst waiting for the approval of the Programme by the UNIDO Board and also at the same time looking for donors to sponsor other components of the programme which UNIDO resources will not be able to accommodate.

The Vice President, Hon. S.E. Berewa, also reiterated the commitment of President Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah to this programme and UNIDO which was evident by the strong presence of the Sierra Leone Delegation at the 10th UNIDO Conference. The Director General of UNIDO expressed his appreciation to President Kabbah, the Vice President and the Government of Sierra Leone for their commitment and co-operation with UNIDO.

The Final draft of the programme is to be re-submitted to UNIDO after consultations are held by the Ministry of Trade and Industry with key stakeholders in the public and private sectors.

ii. Meeting with the Deputy Director General of UNIDO, Mrs Hilrose

The Vice President, Hon. S.E. Berewa, requested Mrs. Hilrose who is Japanese, to assist Sierra Leone to benefit from the Human Security Fund of UNIDO and other development co-operation funds of the Japanese Government.

Vice President Berewa reiterated the need to move to the implementation phase of the UNIDO Integrated Programme as quickly as possible since all the parties have demonstrated a strong commitment to the successful implementation of the Programme. Social and Humanitarian assistance, the Vice President said, were two sides of the same coin and the two must go hand in hand in order to positively impact on the beneficiary country. Various development projects in Sierra Leone for which funding was needed were outlined to Mrs. Hilrose. Japan remains as one of Sierra Leone's most trusted donors and the Country was therefore looking forward to the strong support of Japan, especially through the Human Security Fund for the Integrated Programme in Sierra Leone and other development Projects.

A decision was taken that the Vice President should invite to Sierra Leone the Japanese Ambassador to Ghana who is also accredited to Sierra Leone to discuss issues relating to Japanese assistance for development programmes in Sierra Leone, since the Ambassador was not at the meeting with the Vice President in Vienna.

Ambassador Umaru Wurie was also asked to write a letter directly to UNIDO requesting support for development programmes in Sierra Leone through the Human Security Fund and other resources of the Japanese Government and keep these matters in view for follow-up.

iii. Meeting with Reiffeisen Bank (Cooperative Bank)

Vice President Berewa and other members of the Sierra Leone Delegation also held a meeting with the Vice President of the Reiffeisen Bank, which is a Cooperative Bank in Vienna to explore the possibility of establishing a link with the National Cooperative Bank of Sierra Leone.

Discussions were held on the process and modalities to be followed, including an initial letter of request from the Cooperative Bank in Sierra Leone, making an application for assistance to address the most pressing and urgent needs of the National Cooperative Bank.

Various establishments of the Reiffeission Bank were shown to the Delegation, including the Marketing Company that could link up with Produce Marketing Enterprises in Sierra Leone.

IV. Meeting with DFID

The main purpose of the meeting was to request DFID to fund certain components of the Sierra Leone Integrated Programme, particularly in the area of standardization and quality control, with a view to meeting the certification requirements for the lifting of the ban on fish imports from Sierra Leone.

The Vice President applauded the effort of DFID for its strong commitment to the funding of development programmes in Sierra Leone and requested for the funding of more programmes, as some of the components of the Integrated Programme will be complementing DFID's existing Programmes in Sierra Leone.

A decision was reached for the submission of the final document of the Sierra Leone Integrated Programme to DFID, with a view to exploring possible areas for DFID's intervention.

v. Meeting with OPEC

The Sierra Leone Ambassador, Umaru Wurie, organised a meeting between the Delegation and OPEC to discuss the provision of funds by the latter for the Bumbuna Hydro Electric Project transmission lines.

OPEC had already pledged the sum of US$5,200,000 (Five Million, Two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) for the transmission lines of Bumbuna and US$9,500,000 (Nine Million, Five Hundred United States Dollars) for the Commodity Import Programme.

The Director General was concerned that up to the time of the meeting with the Vice President, the Director General was not aware that the Commodity Import Programme had gone through the Parliament of Sierra Leone. The Director General expressed enthusiasm and made a commitment to lend his support to development programmes in Sierra Leone.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr .Kadi Sesay, and Sierra Leone's Ambassador to Germany Mr. Umaru Wurie also participated in the Conference for African Ministers of Industry (CAMI) Meeting on 28th November 2003, which preceded the UNIDO Conference.

Nancy Tengbeh
Ministry of Trade and Industry

-End-