Rabab Fatima, UN Under-Secretary-General in charge of the United Nations (UN) High Representative for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Countries and Small Island States (UN-OHRLLS), visited Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank and TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal during his visit to Turkey. Rabab Fatima expressed her gratitude to Turkey for its financial and administrative contribution to the Bank.
Fatima also visited TÜBİTAK MAM and was informed about the activities in TÜBİTAK's institutes and laboratories. During the laboratory visits following the briefing meeting, the research groups at TÜBİTAK shared information with Fatima about the projects and their results, which are considered to be particularly relevant to the needs of LDCs.
Following the laboratory visit, TÜBİTAK President Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal attended the Technology Bank Governing Council Meeting as the host country representative and discussed the Bank's 2023 business plans with other Council members. At the meeting, where Turkey's support for the Bank was re-emphasized, Rabab Fatima expressed to the Council members that she had expectations from all Council members in terms of promoting the Bank to the world and finding both political and financial resources.
Noting that the Technology Bank is an important institution for the UN, Fatima expressed her belief that new collaborations with the relevant institutions and private sector representatives of our country will increase the strength of the Bank. The Bank, which has started to attach more importance to project-oriented work than in the past, and our country's organizations also exchanged views on the projects planned to be implemented together.
The cooperation with Turkey, as the host country of the Bank of Technology at the 5th Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Conference to be held in Qatar in March 2023 was also discussed, and the belief that the political and voluntary financial support to the Bank will be increased at the said Conference was mutually expressed.
During the meetings where the preparations for joint projects with the Technology Bank were also discussed, expectations regarding possible new areas of cooperation and opportunities were also mutually put forward.
About Technology Bank:
The United Nations Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) aims to strengthen LDCs' capacities in science, technology and innovation and facilitate technology transfer.
A science and technology commitment package for LDCs was announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the IV United Nations (UN) LDC Conference held in Istanbul on May 9-13, 2011. Within the scope of the package, one of the commitments in the field of science, technology and innovation was announced as the establishment of an international center in Turkey to act as a "Technology Bank" for LDCs. In this regard, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on December 23, 2016 to establish the Technology Bank.
The budget of the Turkey-hosted Technology Bank is based on voluntary contributions. The Technology Bank, which is a source of prestige for our country since Chapter 17.8 of the Sustainable Development Goals was closed with its establishment, was handed over to UN representatives in 2018 to the Bank, which was established by our country at TÜBİTAK Gebze Campus.
The Technology Bank is a UN organization in the UN system under UN-OHRLLS, operating directly under the General Assembly.
