UNIDO Director-General to Speak on New Directions for the United Nations, Nov. 1, UNIDO Director-General Carlos Magariños

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United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Director-General Carlos Magariños will speak on "New Directions for the UN" at a special Management of Technology lecture at the Haas School on Monday, November 1, at 4:00 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Room

This visit is part of the continuing and growing collaboration between UNIDO and the MOT Program at UC Berkeley.

"It is an honor to be visited by such a senior official of the United Nations system" says Andrew Isaacs, adjunct professor and executive director of the MOT program. "Our relationship with UNIDO reflects the growing importance of technology in the advancement of the developing world, a relationship we are quite proud of."

Magariños has been Director-General of UNIDO since December 1997, when he was elected for a four-year term by an overwhelming majority of the organization's member states, making him the first Argentine, as well as the youngest person, to head a United Nations specialized agency. In December 2001, he was re-elected as Director-General for a further period of four years.

UNIDO is responsible for reducing poverty through sustainable industrialization in developing countries and the economies in transition. During his first term of office, the director-general implemented an aggressive reform program that has received worldwide recognition and is now working to ensure and maintain excellent standards in the delivery of UNIDO's services in his second term.

Previously, Magariños served as Argentina's State Secretary for Industry and Mining(1993-1996); National Director for Foreign Trade (1991-1992); Under-Secretary of State for Industry (1992-1993); and Economic and Trade Representative of the Argentine Government in Washington, DC (1996-1997).

The MOT/UNIDO collaboration includes an annual conference, "Bridging the Divide," and the MOT/UN Fellows Program. The second annual "Bridging the Divide" conference will take place April 21 - 22, 2005. The MOT program is a joint effort between Haas, the College of Engineering, and the School of Information Management and Systems.

Seats for the talk will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. No RSVP required.