THE Philippines has called on the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) to expand its engagement with middle-income countries (MICs).
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said over 15 countries globally have been “middle income” for the past 50 years, including three in Asia — Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.
The World Bank said MICs are a diverse group by size, population, and income level. They are home to 75 percent of the world’s population.
Manila also asked Unido to promote sustainable industrial and economic development tailored to the MICs’ specific needs, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
The Philippines was elected as one of the vice presidents of Unido’s Bureau of the Industrial Development Board (IDB) during its 52nd session in November 2024.
Philippine Ambassador to Austria Evangelina Bernas, said “MICs are major engines of growth, contributing a third of global GDP (gross domestic product), but are also home to 62 percent of the world’s poor.”
The Philippines will host the next high-level conference on MICs in Manila in April 2025, the DFA said.
The Philippines urged Unido to submit its second Country Programming Framework with the Philippines which aims to deliver development projects that align with the country’s national development plans such as the Philippine Development Plan 2023–2028 and AmBisyon Natin 2040.
It also called for reforms within Unido to address critical governance issues that were reported through independent internal and external audits.
Manila urged Unido to revisit its strategic priorities and strengthen its technical cooperation mechanisms to ensure the achievement of its mandate for inclusive and sustainable industrial development.
The Philippines reiterated its commitment to collaborate with Unido and its member-states to address global challenges and drive progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 9 to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, foster innovation.
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