Myanmar, UNIDO to Carry Out Cleaner Production Project

A pilot Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) programme in Myanmar will be implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the UN’s specialised agency has said.
The project will target the food processing, textile and tourism sectors in Yangon and Mandalay regions, and will introduce clean technology to goods and services industries in Myanmar, UNIDO said.
The project will be funded by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO), a key supporter of the RECP programme.
“UNIDO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, as well as other government agencies and private sector actors, aims to help improve resource productivity and environmental performance of Myanmar enterprises, in particular SMEs,” said Rene Van Berkel, chief of UNIDO’s Cleaner and Sustainable Production Unit.
The sectors and regions were chosen based on their current and anticipated contributions to Myanmar’s economy, potential for job creation and development of SMEs, and their significant resource and pollution footprints, the agency said.
“The need for sustainable industrial development and a shift to more sustainable consumption and production patterns has been recognised at the global level as illustrated by the Rio+20 and Johannesburg declarations,” said Van Berkel.
Van Berkel said industries in developing and transition countries have significant potential to reduce the raw material, energy, and water consumption of their industries and SMEs, thus contributing to the reduction of negative environmental impacts.
“The adoption of resource efficient practices will lead to a reduction of the overall ecological footprint while at the same time improving productivity and competitiveness. The combined reduction of resource use with increased competitiveness is essential for reaching the goal of decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation.”
The agreement for the project was signed last week by deputy minister for industry U Thein Aung, UNIDO’s Chin Pen Chua and Swiss Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Marie Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch.
In 1994, UNIDO, in cooperation with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a joint programme to establish National Cleaner Production Centres. This programme is nowadays a flagship component of UNIDO’s Green Industry Initiative.
The RECP Programme has so far been implemented in over 50 developing and emerging economies with the support from several donors, in particular, Austria and Switzerland.
Since 1997, the government of Switzerland has provided support for the promotion of cleaner production in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao and Vietnam.