Acceleration to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires public and private sector investments to close the gap between the demand and supply of investment finance for the sustainable economic development of developing countries.

On the path to better rebuilding towards accelerating inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has finalized an online course to enhance and develop essential industrial expertise for the investment promotion. The training aims, among other things, to support industrial recovery and expansion programs in the value chains most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in order to mobilize funds for responsible investments and sustainable technologies. Capacity development has proven to be a fundamental basis for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the management of scarce financial resources for industrial development concepts, so the state as well as the private sector should focus on improvement and funding of skills development programs to develop or improve bankability investment pipelines.

The training course on the preparation and appraisal of investment projects comprises fourteen (14) modules designed to assist regulators, project promoters, project designers, financiers, guarantors, promoters of investment projects. investments, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), entrepreneurs and start-ups. acquire knowledge and skills for the development of quality projects and increase their position to attract domestic and foreign investment for project development. The modules are subdivided into four themes: Project Development and Market Analysis, Technical Analysis, Financial Planning and Analysis and Risk Analysis, and Project Implementation Planning and Assessment.

The training provides the fundamental principles for the identification of investment opportunities through an in-depth description of the phases of the project cycle, highlighting the link between the project and its environment to ensure minimal or no negative effects on the environment. external for durability. It also strengthens the skills of the participants with the basic knowledge to perform financial planning, risk analysis and SDG monitoring for industrial projects. The course will be an ideal complement to UNIDO’s computer model software for Feasibility Analysis and Reporting (COMFAR) which has been in the market for over 30 years and currently has over 11,000 COMFAR users in 160 countries. .

The course will be available in early 2022 at the UNIDO Knowledge Center, complementing other investment promotion modules on impact investing and international business alliances launched earlier with its partner WAIPA. The physical delivery of the course is also planned as part of a multi-stakeholder partnership initiative to support Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), as a recently approved initiative in the Final declaration [KS1] of the 9th Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) held last week on 25-26 November 2021.

[KS1]Link to be inserted once the LDC ministerial declaration is public (I heard that will be the case later today).