2 March 2011: The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is supporting a new project for the transfer of environmentally-sound technologies from Thailand to Viet Nam.

The technology transfer will focus on the ethanol production sector, using the perennial shrub cassava. The initial phase of the project will focus on removing technological barriers and innovation under the UNFCCC’s Poznan Strategic Programme on Technology Transfer. This phase will close with a regional workshop on 9-10 May 2011, in Bangkok, Thailand. The Poznan Strategic Programme on Technology Transfer was welcomed by the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 14) to the UNFCCC and is managed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The project is partially-funded by the GEF, which has allocated US$2.6 million to Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) to facilitate this South-South Technology Transfer. The cost of the project is US$7.8 million, and it is being co-financed by the Viet Nam Development Bank and the state-owned, oil-marketing company PV Oil. Viet Nam’s Ministry of Investment and Trade will lead the four-year project. UNIDO is one of the GEF’s implementing agencies. [UNIDO Press Release]