Iran Statement at 42nd Session of the UNIDO Program and Budget Committee

Agenda Item 3: Annual Report of the Director General for 2025

Statement

by

H.E. Mr. Reza NAJAFI

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the

Islamic Republic of Iran

 before

42^nd Session of the UNIDO Program and Budget Committee

(PBC 42 )

Agenda Item 3:

 Annual Report of the Director General for 2025

Vienna, 22-23 June 2026

 

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

 

Madam Chair,

Mr. Director General,

Excellencies,

Distinguished colleagues,

 

At the outset, let me congratulate Your Excellency Ms. Matilda Aku Alomatu Osei-Agyeman, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Ghana on your election as the chair of the 42^nd session of the Programme and Budget Committee, as well as the members of the bureau for their election. I assure you of the full cooperation of my delegation in discharging your mandate and hope that this session will come to a positive and productive outcome. 

I would also like to express my appreciation to the outgoing bureau, the distinguished Alternate Permanent Representative of Mexico and his members of the bureau for their outstanding work done during the 41^st Session of the PBC. The Director General and the Secretariat deserve our gratitude for their efforts in preparation and organization of this Session.

          We take vigilant note of the Director General's informative introductory remarks and the update on the implementation of the medium-term programme framework (MTPF) 2026–2029.

Madam Chair,

My delegation associates itself with the statement delivered by the distinguished Ambassador of India on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, and would like to add the following points:

The Islamic Republic of Iran takes note of the annual report of the Director-General for 2025, contained in document PBC.42/2, which conveys the broad range of initiatives, activities, and programs that the Organization undertook last year. We continue to support the Director-General and the Organization to move forward in pursuit of initiatives and the implementation of programs toward industrial development and economic and social prosperity.

The Islamic Republic of Iran welcomes UNIDO’s efforts in advancing technical assistance and capacity building programmes to Member States and appreciates its efforts in pursuing the implementation of the joint projects in Iran , especially after the end of war of aggression imposed on Iran.

The main target of my government in achieving sustainable development is to maximize the use of new technologies for sustained industrial development at the national level and to help small and medium-sized enterprises in different industries to better communicate and engage more effectively with regional and international companies and organizations.

Madam Chair,

We note the Director-General's assessment that 2025 was a year of progress and challenge for all of us. In this regard, the UNIDO should not be indifferent when speaking out on the challenges, and also speak about the negative impacts of unilateral economic, banking, and financial coercive measures of all sorts imposed and maintained in contravention with international law and Charter of the United Nations against its Member States, including that have long eroded and undermined sustainable development as well as international trade.

Taking into account the serious challenges of our era, we firmly believe that fulfilling our commitments to gain inclusive industrial development and create an enabling environment for the benefit and welfare of our peoples can only be achieved through taking common endeavors and sharing responsibilities, based on international cooperation, multilateralism, including through multilateral institutions like UNIDO, and to maintain and uphold our unified objection to unilateralism that adversely targets the foundations of the United Nations to which we are all committed. 

We welcome UNIDO's strengthened engagement in 2025 with the BRICS countries, including through the launch of the BRICS Centre for Industrial Competencies (BCIC). The BRICS account for a growing share of global manufacturing, trade, investment and technological innovation. Through engagement in BRICS processes, UNIDO can help align this collective influence with the goals of inclusive and sustainable industrialization.

The adoption of Riyadh Declaration at the 21^st session of the General Conference in November 2025 was a success for UNIDO. Among other important issues, the 2025 General Conference declaration reiterates the clear mandate of the Organization and gives guidance for the way forward into the realization of inclusive and sustainable industrialization. However, much remains to be done to achieve the Goals of Sustainable Development and make the world a more equitable and prosperous place, where no one is left behind.

Finally, the Islamic Republic of Iran believes that UNIDO’s specialized knowledge and expertise makes it uniquely placed to contribute to the achievement of SDGs. UNIDO provides a specialized platform for knowledge and technology transfer and we therefore look forward to further strengthening of partnership that contributes to promotion and implementation of Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development globally.

We wish this 42^nd Session of the PBC full success.

I thank you.