The 2023 United Nations/International Organization Workshop on Emergency Response was held in Xujing town in Shanghai's Qingpu district on March 28.
Ge Yunyan, the China representative of the United Nations Development Programme, Peng Jiong, the China representative of the United Nations Population Fund, Li Ke, a representative from the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges and Tu Jianqing, secretary-general of the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industry Association attended the event.
Vanno Noupech, the China representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the UNHCR attaches great importance to China's key role in the global supply chain and is familiar with China's manufacturing capabilities and advantages in prices, technological innovation and logistics. The UNHCR hopes to cooperate with more Chinese suppliers and manufacturers.
Peng said the sustainable procurement can meet urgent needs for the project's construction and humanitarian assistance plays a vital part in enhancing China's international cooperation, especially the South-South cooperation. The UNFPA looks forward to cooperating with more Chinese companies to achieve global development goals, he added.
As one of the annual activities under the sustainable joint procurement project on service, information sharing and capacity building of the UN and other international organizations, the event, conducted in an online and offline mode, aimed to introduce the emergency procurement, share experiences and strengthen the capacity of suppliers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.
During the event, representatives from the UN agencies, introduced the overall process of emergency procurement and the key points in response to disasters, post-disaster recovery and reconstruction.
To date, the joint procurement project has released more than 20,000 pieces of information, benefited more than 1,500 enterprises and assisted 460 enterprises in the registration of the UN suppliers.
In the next stage, the project plans to optimize the emergency response mechanism, match international procurement needs with high-quality products from Chinese companies and ensure the timely allocation of materials through efforts such as confirming the list of emergency procurement items, improving supporting services, establishing a supplier database and maintaining strategic relationships with partners.
