UN Secretary General visits offices of UN Technology Bank

Gebze – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited the UN Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries in Gebze, Turkey, on 31 October 2019 to meet Managing Director, Joshua Setipa and staff. 

“I'm extremely proud to see the work that colleagues have done here. This Technology Bank was born was born 11 months ago and is already having a very important role in supporting least developed countries to have access to new technologies and to be able not to stay behind the in the implementation of the Agenda 2030“, said the Secretary General. “My appeal to the international community as a whole is to provide this bank with resources that will be necessary to take full potential of the excellent work that is being done.”

During his visit, the Secretary-General was briefed on the UN Technology Bank’s programmes across 20 least developed countries, including science, technology and innovation policy capacity training, technology transfer, direct support to boost the capacity of national academies of science in least developed countries and enhancing scientific research capacity. 

“It is a great privilege for us to welcome the UN Secretary General to our offices today, marking the culmination of the operationalization of the Technology Bank. This visit signifies the importance that the United Nations places on ensuring the digital divide between least developed countries and the rest of the world is bridged and that the potential for science, technology and innovation to drive the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in the least developed countries be fully exploited,” said Mr. Setipa. 

The UN Technology Bank is dedicated to supporting the contribution of science, technology and innovation in the world’s least developed countries, running programmes in 20 countries and working with partners to enhance support and coordination in technology sectors.

Download the press release (PDF)