Pakistan, March 17th 2015 - The 3rd Steering Committee (SC) meeting of the “Joint UNIDO-SMEDA-Italy Programme” was held in Islamabad, Pakistan at Serena Hotel on 12th March 2015. Officials attended the meeting were from organizations of MoIP – Ministry of Industry and Production of Pakistan, EAD – Economic Affairs Divison, SMEDA - Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, Italian Cooperation for Development and UNIDO ITPO Italy.

The agenda of the meeting was to review the project progress achieved till date and the way forward activities of the project. The participants were quiet satisfied with the progress made till date and showed appreciated the efforts of UNIDO team.

A detailed presentation was given on Work Plan Jan-Jun 2015 and the Work Plan for the year 2015-16. After deliberation, the SC selected three sectors i.e. agro-food processing (including olive oil), leather/footwear and renewable energy (including off grid solutions &EMS - energy management systems) as priority focus where most of the activities would also be implemented. Finally the SC approved Work Plan 2015 Jan-June and Work Plan 2015-16.

It was also decided to promote and facilitate the participation of Pakistani companies in the EXPO Milan 2015. Meeting was ended by vote by thanks by Mr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ghumman (Joint Secretary, Ministry of Industries & Production of Pakistan) and he particular thanked UNIDO and the Italian Cooperation for Development for their continued support for this project.

The “Joint UNIDO-SMEDA-Italy Programme” financed by the Italian Cooperation and implemented by UNIDO aims to increase the number of industrial projects implemented in Pakistan through business-oriented cooperation with foreign partners, in particular from Italy. In particular, UNIDO ITPO Italy is supporting the IPU in Lahore to improve services and consultancy for further development of the business support sector in Pakistan.