UNIDO launches Industrial Upgrading and Modernization Programme in Venezuela

Recognizing Venezuela’s geographical and economic potential in developing agro-industrial value chains and aiming to support the local efforts to ensure food security and economic diversification, UNIDO, together with its national counterparts from the Ministry of Popular Power for Food (MINPPAL) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (MPPAPT), has officially launched the project “Industrial Upgrading and Modernization Programme for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”, implemented with the financial support of the Russian Federation.

During the launching event, UNIDO presented the “Country programme to promote inclusive and sustainable industrial development in Venezuela" and the objectives of the new “Industrial Upgrading and Modernization Programme” (IUMP) for Venezuela. Specifically, seeking to stimulate employment and create favourable conditions for economic revitalization, the IUMP Venezuela project will pave the way towards improved food security through ensuring sufficient food supplies that correspond to the internal demand, while contributing to a more diversified and value-added local economy, investment and technology promotion, as well as to the development of the country’s export potential.

Having completed the prioritization study that allowed to identify concrete project interventions within 5 selected crop value chains (rice, white and yellow maize, black bean “caraota” and common beans, soybean and sugar cane), UNIDO defined technical assistance areas with focus on obtaining higher yields from permanent, semi-permanent, and short-cycle crops by introducing innovative industrial processing practices and providing demand-driven interventions across the respective agro-industrial value chains.

Venezuela, a net food-importing country, is characterized by excellent conditions for agricultural production and already has a good basis for enhancing productive activities in the target agro-food industries. UNIDO’s technical assistance is expected to strengthen the country’s economic resilience by contributing to reducing dependency on food commodity imports, as well as its sensitiveness to fluctuations of oil revenues.

Project brochure is available in English and Spanish here.

For further information contact Farrukh Alimdjanov (F.Alimdjanov [at] unido.org (F[dot]Alimdjanov[at]unido[dot]org))