SPECIAL REPORT
Launch of South-South Technology Transfer Facility
for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)
The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation
April 2015
“I call for the United Nations Office for
South-South Cooperation to fulfil its pledge
and commitment to establish facility
centres in a number of LLDCs for purposes
of technology transfer.”
– H.E. Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, President of the Republic of Zambia,
during High-Level Meeting on the Follow-up to the second United Nations Conference
on Landlocked Developing Countries in Livingstone, Zambia, 2 June 2015.
UNOSSC and UN-OHRLLS jointly welcome your financial,
institutional and technical support of this South-South
Technology Transfer Facility for LLDCs
TABLE OF CONTENTS
REPORT OVERVIEW
4
BACKGROUND
4
Strengthening Support for the Landlocked Developing Countries
4
The South-South Global Assets and Technology Exchange (SS-GATE):
Technology Transfer Through South-South Cooperation
6
LAUNCH OF THE SOUTH-SOUTH TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER FACILITY FOR LLDCs
7
2013 Global South-South Development Expo, 28 October-1 November 2013,
Nairobi, Kenya
7
Initial Activities of the LLDC Facility: The SS-GATE Business Matchmaking Space
8
Objectives of the LLDC Facility
9
Roll Out of the LLDC Facility
10
Proposed Pilot Countries
11
Role of Principal Partners
12
THE WAY FORWARD
13
ANNEX 1. SS-GATE PARTNERSHIPS
14
ANNEX 2. SS-GATE PRESS RELEASE
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Launch of South-South Technology Transfer Facility for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)
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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION » SPECIAL REPORT
REPORT OVERVIEW
This report documents the launching of an initiative spearheaded by the United Nations Office
for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and the United Nations Office of the High Representative
for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing
States (UN-OHRLLS) in collaboration with a wide range of institutional partners. This “’SouthSouth Technology Transfer Facility for Landlocked Developing Countries” (hereafter referred to
as “Facility”), was launched in order to meet some of the technical and financial needs of
Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs). The Facility was jointly launched by UNOSSC and UNOHRLLS, in collaboration with local partners and other stakeholders, on 31 October 2013 during
the Sixth Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo in Nairobi, Kenya. The primary
implementing entity has been designated as the South-South Global Assets and Technology
Exchange (SS-GATE), which is an international technology transfer platform launched by UNOSSC
in 2009.
This report provides context on the launch of the Facility, identifies the principal partners and
objectives, and identifies opportunities for UN agencies, Member States, and the wider
international community to engage in the work of the Facility.
BACKGROUND
Strengthening Support for the Landlocked Developing Countries
The Group of Landlocked Developing Countries has 32 Member States, a majority of which are
among the poorest nations in the world, with nearly two-thirds (20) having a gross domestic
product per capita well below $1,000. In fact, 10 of the 20 lowest-ranking countries on the Human
Development Index (HDI) of the United Nations are landlocked.
Given their lack of direct access to seaborne trade, LLDCs find themselves on an inherently
disadvantaged development path compared with countries with coastlines and deep-sea ports.
Landlockedness itself coincides with other factors that impair development, such as remoteness
from major markets and difficult topography, as well as tropical or desert ecology. As a result,
LLDCs face substantially higher trade and transport costs than their neighbours and remain
marginalized in world trade. Such severe difficulties are further amplified by LLDCs’ dependence
4
on the political stability, the infrastructure and the institutional quality of coastal transit countries.
The latter are, in most cases, themselves developing countries, often of broadly similar economic
structure and beset by similar scarcities of resources.
The lack of structural change, the continued dependence on a narrow range of commodity
exports and the slow rate of productivity growth are all factors that have kept LLDC economies
far from generating the kind of dynamism experienced by other developing countries. Problems
of scale, thinness of the domestic market, quality, technological sophistication, competitiveness
and trade-related infrastructure deficits continue to plague the LLDCs’ ability to foster their
productive capacity, upgrade and innovate, foment value addition and diversification so as to
compete in their own liberalized markets, meet the local demand while also being able to
connect to global supply chains and meet increasingly stringent standards in regional and
international markets.
At the Second United Nations Conference on LLDCs, held 3-5 November 2014 in Vienna Austria,
the international community adopted the Vienna Programme of Action for LLDCs (VPoA). That
Programme replaced the Almaty Programme of Action (APoA) that had been the main
development framework for LLDCs since its adoption in Kazakhstan in 2003. VPoA seeks to
promote an enhanced rate of sustainable and inclusive growth along with poverty reduction by
addressing, in a more coherent manner, the special development needs and challenges of LLDCs
that arise from their landlockedness, remoteness and geographical constraints. Drawing upon
lessons learned, gaps and experiences from the ten years of APoA, VPoA reflects a deeper
understanding of the challenges that face LLDCs. While maintaining a focus on efficient transit
systems, transport development and the expansion of trade, VPoA also seeks to improve LLDCs’
competitiveness, build resilience, and address the declining value addition in the core sectors of
manufacturing and agriculture.
The Vienna Programme of Action for LLDCs reflects the strengthened partnerships within the
context of South-South and triangular cooperation, as well as strengthened partnerships with
the relevant international and regional organizations and between public and private sector
actors, are also essential. It observes that support from developing countries should take into
full consideration the nature of South-South cooperation and in accordance with the Nairobi
outcome document of the High-level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation.
In particular, VPoA notes that South-South and triangular cooperation have a role to play in
increasing the growth and development of LLDCs, as well as transit developing countries, through
their contribution, as appropriate, to the sharing of best practices, human and productive
capacity-building, financial and technical assistance and technology transfer on mutually agreed
terms. In fact, paragraph 53(c) states that the sharing of best practices in customs, border and
corridor management and in the implementation of trade facilitation policies should be
encouraged at the global, regional, subregional and South-South levels. Furthermore, the
Launch of South-South Technology Transfer Facility for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)
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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION » SPECIAL REPORT
increasing growth in South-South trade holds the potential for other developing countries to
become important export destinations for the products of landlocked developing countries and
sources of critical foreign direct investment.
Furthermore, the United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/64/214, encouraged
the further strengthening of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation with the
involvement of donors, as well as cooperation among sub-regional and regional organizations,
in support of the efforts of landlocked and transit developing countries towards achieving the
full and effective implementation of APoA. In addition, the resolution calls for the support of
trade facilitation measures, transfer of technologies, technical assistance, as well as the
diversification of export products through the development of small and medium-sized
enterprises and private-sector involvement in LLDCs. This call was reaffirmed during the 2012
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro where the General
Assembly called for more coordinated effort in the implementation of APoA to support the
sustainable development of LLDCs (A/RES/66/288).
Clearly, South-South and triangular cooperation approaches present a great avenue through
which many of the aforementioned challenges that LLDCs face can be fully addressed. The Facility
offers a platform for champion countries - in collaboration with development partners and the
private sector - to support LLDCs in accessing and/or acquiring needed technologies and
solutions that are available in the global south and elsewhere. The scope and focus of support
remains varied although geared largely towards building up the resilience and productive
capacities of the LLDCs.
The South-South Global Assets and Technology Exchange
(SS-GATE): Technology Transfer through South-South Cooperation
Like APoA before it, VPoA highlights the prominent role that South-South cooperation plays in
meeting development targets. The guidance provided by these development frameworks led
naturally to a strategic collaboration between UNOSSC and UN-OHRLLS and gave rise to the
establishment of the Facility in the fall of 2013. The Facility was launched as a concrete response
intended to support South-South technology transfer needs for LLDC Member States.
The Facility leverages SS-GATE’s existing platform and infrastructure, which is a global platform
launched by UNOSSC in 2009. Since its inception, SS-GATE has proved to be an important global
public-private partnership (PPP) platform that is secure, transparent and rules-based South-South
and triangular technology transfer mechanism which facilitates market-driven exchanges of
technologies, assets, services, and financial resources in favour of sustainable and inclusive
growth of developing countries.
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Over the years, SS-GATE’s virtual and physical structure has consistently been proven to be a
successful tool of carrying out policy recommendations and bridging public policies with
economic development. Indeed, the Nairobi Outcome Document of the High-level UN
Conference on South-South Cooperation, which was endorsed by the 64th General Assembly in
its resolution 64/222 in 2009, recognized SS-GATE as an important global and multilateral
South-South cooperation support architecture to enable the South and other development
partners and centres of excellence to showcase, exchange and transfer development solutions
and technologies.
Through 2014, SS-GATE had listed 7,087 new projects, matched 2,304, and successfully facilitated
the transfer of 1,023 technology solutions along a South-South corridor. These achievements
have been realized through the use of a virtual platform operated by the SS-GATE Secretariat in
Shanghai, China. The SS-GATE system also leverages partnerships on the ground through
SS-GATE “country centres,” which are physical institutional entities on the ground that feed the
system with locally sourced projects. As of today, SS-GATE works with 50 country centres that
are operational in 40 countries, including in LLDCs such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uganda,
Rwanda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. An assessment on the performance of the LLDC-based centres
showed them to be either new or underperforming, signalling a need to strengthen their
operations. The strategic development plan for the Facility calls for the progressive establishment,
where possible, a national presence in at least 10 LLDCs within the first three years of its launch.
The aim is to eventually establish active country centres in each of the 32 LLDC Member States.
LAUNCH OF THE SOUTH-SOUTH TECHNOLOGY
TRANSFER FACILITY FOR LLDCs
2013 Global South-South Development Expo, 28 October-1
November 2013, Nairobi, Kenya
The Day 4 session of the 2013 Global South-South Development Expo involved such distinguished
speakers and panelists as H.E. Zsolt Hetesy, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative
at the Permanent Mission of Hungary to the United Nations and Vice President of the Seventeenth
Session of the United Nations High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation, Mr. Yiping
Zhou, Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation and Director of UNOSSC, Mr.
Gyan Chandrya Acharya, Under Secretary-General and High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs, and
SIDS, Hon. John Nasarira, State Minister of Information and Communication Technology of the
Republic of Uganda, H.E. Dr. Mwaba Kasese-Bota, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of
Launch of South-South Technology Transfer Facility for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)
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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION » SPECIAL REPORT
Opening of Day 4 Session at the 2013 GSSD Expo
where the South-South Technology Transfer Facility
for LLDCs was launched
>
>
the Republic of Zambia to the United Nations, H.E. Dr. Martin Kimani, Ambassador and Permanent
Representative of the Republic of Kenya to UNEP, Mr. Gopi Mainali, Joint Secretary of the National
Planning Commission of Nepal, and Dr. Manu Chandaria, Industrialist and Chairman and CEO of
the Comcraft Group of Companies in Kenya. It was during this session that the Facility was
officially co-launched between UNOSSC and UN-OHRLLS.
Signing of LLDC Facility between Mr. Gyan Acharya and Mr. Yiping
Zhou, with Ms. Mwaba Patricia Bota, Mr. Martin Kimani, Mr. Zsolt
Hetesy and Dr. Evans Kidero, present as witness
Initial Activities of the LLDC Facility: The SS-GATE Business
Matchmaking Space
>
As part of the services offered by the Facility, SS-GATE staff leveraged the occasion of the GSSD
Expo to host an SS-GATE Business Matchmaking Space which aimed to initiate business
partnerships that would lead to successful transfers of technology.
8
Local and regional SMEs seek to exchange technologies and financing with participating enterprises by utilizing SS-GATE’s
onsite Business Matchmaking Space
>
As a result of SS-GATE’s facilitation during the Business
Matchmaking Space, SS-GATE mobilized a delegation of
148 private sector entities to participate, with 39
companies successfully matched and 16 MoUs signed
on-site between companies, investors, and other private
sector enterprises. The total amount of financial pledges
resulting from these signings was approximately $450
million. After the Expo concluded SS-GATE conducted
follow-up operations to ensure that the parties matched
during the Expo were provided with the necessary
services to finalize their deals, thereby scaling-up their
operations.
SS-GATE team members assist SMEs with
negotiations of MoUs and service agreements
during Business Matchmaking Space
The SS-GATE Business Matchmaking Space also organized
a financing workshop for LLDC companies, which
leveraged the expertise of several institutions including
WIPO, CTI-PFAN, and Investors Club Uganda.
Objectives of the LLDC Facility
The objectives of the Facility are as follows:
1. Match technology providers and financial investors from the South and from traditional
Northern donors with technology seekers primarily in the private sector of LLDCs to facilitate
technology transfer in strategic development sectors including: agriculture, infrastructure,
global health, dairy and agro-food processing, water management, climate change adaptation
and mitigation, and renewable energy;
2. Transfer technologies from providers to recipient entities in LLDCs with support from SS-GATE
services platform and in coordination with the host of the Facility;
3. Source and disseminate information regarding available technologies;
4. Actively promote the use of the technologies across LLDCs through organizing national and
sub-regional networking meetings and workshops to inform partners and representatives
from LLDCs about the initiative, available technologies, success stories etc.;
Launch of South-South Technology Transfer Facility for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)
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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION » SPECIAL REPORT
5. Identify and publish models of Transit Transfer (TT) agreements, models of TT schemes of
regional or sub-regional “development corridors” specially aimed to help the LLDCs, and
models of LLDC-focused partnership arrangements focused on technology transfer;
6. Identify and nurture innovative business ideas in the LLDCs through training and partnerships;
and
7. Actively mobilize resources, financial and in-kind, for the joint Facility and for end-users in
the LLDCs.
Roll Out of the LLDC Facility
The roll-out plans for the Facility involve the piloting of programmes and projects at the subregional centres. The initial experiences will inform decisions to adapt, scale-up and replicate
successful activities in all participating countries in the sub-region in a more systematic and
sustainable manner. A South-South and triangular cooperation technology transfer plan has
been developed for six to-be-determined pilot LLDCs based on their respective medium-term
(3-5 years) national investment plans and sector-specific strategies and priorities. UNOSSC and
UN-OHRLLS will provide oversight and coordination for the joint Facility, while SS-GATE will be
designated as the implementing entity.
A number of the national centres will also function as sub-regional centres overseeing work in
the other LLDCs. The national focal persons at these offices will ideally be an existing sub-regional
coordinator of the projects in their respective sub-region. Such sub-regional centres would help
identify actors in the neighboring LLDCs and transit developing countries on the demand and
supply side, and identify and source available technologies through the SS-GATE. The subregional focal points will also coordinate mutual activities, and lend support to the smooth
functioning of country centres under their purview. To do so, sub-regional focal persons will
establish and maintain a strong regional network of national focal persons through regular
physical and/or virtual interactions with the aim of deepening the role of the Facility. An added
advantage of this arrangement is that it will make it possible to replicate and/or scale up
successful initiatives.
It is preferable that sub-regional centres be equipped with capabilities to successfully undertake
unencumbered multi-country operations. The programming at the sub-regional level will take
into account country and sub-regional comparative advantage, and the technology needs for an
overarching LLDC concerns in the areas such as, sustainable agriculture, dairy and agro-food
processing, water management, global health, climate change adaptation/renewable energy etc.
It would also promote the use of effective hardware and software infrastructural solutions for
the LLDCs.
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Proposed Pilot Countries
In terms of language, cultural similarities and geographical location, LLDCs can readily be
grouped into five clusters. The East Africa region has five landlocked countries, namely: Burundi,
Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan1 and Uganda. Southern Africa region is home to six LLDCs:
Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The French-speaking LLDCs in
Central and West Africa region include Burkina Faso, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Mali and Niger.
Central Asia and Eastern Europe is home to nine LLDCs: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. South
Asian LLDCs are Bhutan, Laos and Nepal. Bolivia and Paraguay are the only two LLDCs in the
Western Hemisphere.
The roll-out plan for the Facility calls for the willing participation of countries to pilot the project.
Interested countries can express their interest to UNOSSC and/or UN-OHRLLS. Project ownership
at the country level requires financial and/or in-kind contribution towards meeting the budgetary
needs of planned activities. Pilot countries could make available, as part of their contribution,
office space, office equipment and local staff as elaborated in the budget estimates. Other
responsibilities of a pilot country would include supporting SS-GATE in different ways such as
facilitating, scheduling and coordinating travels and training activities organized within
the country.
Main responsibilities of the pilot countries will include but not limited to:
1. Nominate a suitable sub-regional centre that will source viable entities and/or projects in the
selected focus area;
2. Provide input into the technology transfer plans/strategies based on local needs;
3. Support and promote the establishment of countries centres in neighbouring LLDCs;
4. Facilitate negotiations among matched entities; and
5. Liaise with the Facility and other stakeholders for project promotion, replication and scaling
up as well as resource mobilization.
1
South Sudan is yet to formally join the United Nations Group of the LLDCs
Launch of South-South Technology Transfer Facility for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)
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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION » SPECIAL REPORT
Role of Principal Partners
The principle partners of the Facility are as follows:
1. UNOSSC;
2. UN-OHRLLS;
3. Chair of LLDCs Group; and
4. SS-GATE.
A fully functioning technology transfer facility for the LLDCs will demonstrate a deepening of
relations among various stakeholders in the areas pertinent to South-South and triangular
cooperation. It will provide a platform through which all stakeholders (i.e. States, non-State actors,
the private sector, the academia, regional and international organizations, etc.) could undertake
and discharge their commitments to the LLDCs as called for in the VPoA and several UN General
Assembly resolutions.
In the context of South-South and triangular cooperation, the Facility will strive to be innovative
as it seeks and matches solution providers, including technology and markets in the global South
with those that have expressed a demand for such. It will count on the invaluable assistance
from development partners in the global North and multilateral institutions as well. Like other
development partners, transit developing countries play a defining role in shaping the
development outcomes of the LLDCs. Against this back drop, this initiative puts transit countries
in the midst of those that champion the sharing of knowledge, best practices as well as the
successful transfer of suitable and affordable technologies to the LLDCs. UNOSSC and
UN-OHRLLS will approach a number of transit countries with a request for their political and
financial support.
Development partners, both traditional and emerging, North and South, bilateral and multilateral
have a stake in the operationalization of the Facility. They could assist in identifying potential
technology providers (such as private sector entities) to meet demonstrated demand in pilot
countries. They could also provide substantive input into the technology transfer plans and
strategies as well as legal and regulatory processes to facilitate cross-border transactions. Such
partners could also liaise with the Facility, pilot countries, UNOSSC and UN-OHRLLS for project
promotion and resource mobilization. A critical starting point is the voluntary support to a startup fund in support of the Facility.
The Facility holds the potential to deliver triple benefits to all participants in the context of SouthSouth and triangular cooperation. Countries with private sector providers of technology stand
to gain the most from an established SS-GATE transactions platform capable of matching them
12
with potential consumers, i.e. technology seekers in the target LLDCs. It is important, however,
to recall that the Facility will make it possible for LLDCs to address some of their development
challenges through the adoption of new technologies. The Facility, the first of its kind for LLDCs,
will benefit from the synergies that arise from collaborative efforts of all stakeholders.
THE WAY FORWARD
The launching of the Facility represented political commitment from the primary institutional
partners (UNOSSC and UN-OHRLLS) to commit focused support for LLDCs through South-South
technology transfer. In 2015, these political commitments will be translated into concrete actions
by initiating efforts to mobilize partnerships and resources in order to begin to operationalize
the Facility.
In the first phase of the roll-out, pilot LLDC members will be nominated to carry out the initial
activities of the Facility. A South-South/triangular technology transfer plan will be developed for
each of the pilot LLDCs based on their respective medium term (3-5 years) national investment
plans and sector specific strategies. To coordinate the roll-out and initial activities of the Facility,
a steering committee comprised of the main partners will be formed. Following the successful
roll-out of the Facility, SS-GATE staff will document lessons learned and apply the refined
methodology to launch the Facility over the next 3-5 years, pending available resources to
be mobilized.
The initial phase of the roll-out will also involve concerted resource mobilization and partnership
building activities to provide the Facility with seed funding to begin operations. Financial
resources can be channelled through the United Nations Fund for South-South Cooperation
(formerly the Voluntary Trust Fund for the Promotion of South-South Cooperation) which is
managed by UNOSSC. The Fund is included in the UN Pledging Conference for Development
Activities as a result of the decision by the General Assembly in December 2002 (resolution
57/263). More information about the Fund can be found at the following website:
http://ssc.undp.org/content/ssc/partner/how_to_contribute.html. Financial resources can be
distributed to Facility principals directly from the Fund at the discretion of the Steering
Committee.
For UN agencies, Member States, and other institutions that are interested in supporting the
Facility or South-South cooperation in general, please contact Ms. Teresa Liu, Chief of Division of
Development Solutions and Technology Exchange, UNOSSC ([email protected]), for more
information on how to contribute.
Launch of South-South Technology Transfer Facility for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)
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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION » SPECIAL REPORT
ANNEX 1. SS-GATE PARTNERSHIPS
Public-private partnerships are a building-block of the SS-GATE system. The SS-GATE initiative is made
possible by collaborations with multiple partners including municipalities, country governments and
international organizations within and outside the UN system.
ORGANIZATION
EXAMPLES OF SS-GATE PARTNERSHIPS
SS-GATE & World Bank partnered to launch the East Africa Climate Innovation Network (EACIN),
which is comprised of 5 countries: Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania. EACIN was
launched to regionalize the services of World Bank’s Climate Innovation Center in Nairobi, Kenya,
which aims to develop early stage climate-related technologies through business incubation and
enterprise development services.
Instead of building this regional network from scratch, World Bank partnered with SS-GATE to
leverage its networks in East Africa and to utilize its services to source climate technologies and
innovations and to mobilize the private sector through project matchmaking (matching supply
and demand). Officially launched in 2012 with SS-GATE as the key implementing partner, EACIN
has already yielded some important achievements including:
• 300+ locally sourced environment related projects and innovations have been given regional
and global visibility through the SS-GATE network.
• Local staff capacity enhanced through training workshops.
• Mobilized financing for a $21 million hydropower plant in Tanzania.
• The deal was envisaged to result in the direct employment of at least 500 workers during the
construction phase and 40 permanent employees when fully operational.
Between 2010-2013, SS-GATE utilized private sector funding from the South and partnered
with UNFCCC and the Office of the President of the General Assembly, which offset approximately
6,400 tonnes of CO2 emissions to support CDM projects that resulted from several UN sanctioned
events including:
UNGA
• Rio+20 Summit (2012): SS-GATE received a special award from the President of the General
Assembly (PGA) for its outstanding contribution to sustainable development. Furthermore,
PGA requested SS-GATE services to offset future UN General Assembly meetings where
applicable.
• UN Climate Change Conference (COP17) in Durban, South Africa (2011): SS-GATE received
special recognition award from UNFCCC Deputy Director.
UNFCCC
• UN Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai, China (2010).
These efforts benefited CDM projects in Turkey, South Africa and Zambia.
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SS-GATE supported the scaling-up of sustainable development solutions by mobilizing private
sector participation at the 2013 Global South-South Development Expo, hosted by UNEP.
SS-GATE facilitated matchmaking between investors, green businesses, governments and other
stakeholders. This intervention led to several important achievements including:
• $450+ million in pledged deals between local enterprises in various green sectors, in particular
clean energy.
• 148 companies listed their projects on the SS-GATE web-platform, signaling a desire for
partnerships that will grow their business/products.
• 40 companies were successfully matched with relevant partners and financiers on-site.
In the post-Expo phase, SS-GATE utilized its platform to help facilitate transactions among matched
companies to scale-up impact.
SS-GATE’s Global Health Exchange Platform (SS-GHX), jointly launched with WHO/PAHO, was
endorsed as a sustainable business model by UN Secretary General’s Every Woman, Every Child
(EWEC) initiative to accelerate MDGs 4 & 5 by disseminating and scaling up innovations.
WHO/PAHO
List of Partners
GLObAL
FAO
United Nations Foundation
World Bank/MIGA
FHI 360
UN General Assembly
WHO/PAHO
IFAD
UN Global Compact
WIPO
IFC
UNEP
ILO
UNESCO
The UN Global Fund to Fight
AIDS
CTI Private Financing Advisory
Network
UNFCCC
UNAIDS
UN-OHRLLS
UNCTAD/ITC
UNOPS
The OPEC Fund for
International Development
UNIDO
The Partnership for Maternal,
Newborn, and Child Health
UNDP
REGIONAL
African Centre for Technology
Studies
East Africa Climate Innovation
Network
Pacific Islands Private Sector
Organization
Caribbean Centre for
Competitiveness
Inter-American Development
Bank
TECHNONET AFRICA
Islamic Chamber of Commerce,
China-Africa Development Fund Industry and Agriculture
China-Africa Business Council
NATIONAL &
COUNTRy CENTRES
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Benin
Cameroon
China *
D.R. Congo
Costa Rica
Cote d’Ivoire
Egypt
Ghana
Guatemala
India
Iran
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Malaysia
Mauritius
Mongolia
Mozambique
Nigeria *
Norway
Pakistan
Philippines
Rwanda
Samoa
Senegal
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Switzerland
Tanzania
TECHNONET ASIA
Union of South American
Nations
Thailand
Turkey
Uganda
United States
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
* Country also made financial contribution(s)
Launch of South-South Technology Transfer Facility for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)
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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION » SPECIAL REPORT
ANNEX 2. SS-GATE PRESS RELEASE
Nairobi, Kenya; 1 November 2013
The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) mobilized a delegation of 154
private sector entities and 488 NGOs/IGOs to the 2013 Global South-South Development (GSSD)
Expo in Nairobi, Kenya through its flagship project the South-South Global Assets and Technology
Exchange (SS-GATE). UNOSSC organized a series of sessions and events designed to support the
scaling-up and/or replication of Southern solutions and innovations.
As a result of SS-GATE facilitation, 16 MoUs were signed on-site between companies, investors,
and other private sector entities. The total amount of financial pledges made between parties
as a result of these signings was approximately $450 million. Further, 41 companies were
successfully matched and held business negotiations and 148 companies listed their projects on
the SS-GATE web-platform. SS-GATE will conduct follow-up operations to ensure that the parties
that were matched during the Expo are provided the services needed to finalize their deals,
thereby scaling-up their operations.
The facilitation of business negotiations was a central feature of the SS-GATE Business
Matchmaking Space which was a new service offered by the GSSD Expo to its participants this
year. Leveraging the services of the SS-GATE system, the GSSD Expo looks to not only showcase
solutions but to scale-up and replicate technology-based solutions through the matching of
needs and offers as it relates to finance, partnerships and technologies that are based primarily
in the Global South.
The SS-GATE has also announced a commitment to offset the carbon emissions produced as a
result of the execution of this year’s GSSD Expo, ensuring that the event is consistent with its
green theme. This follows successful initiatives that were led by SS-GATE that offset carbon
emissions produced in the building of the UN Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo (2010), the
execution of the Durban COP-17 conference in South Africa (2011), the Rio+20 Conference in
Brazil (2012), and last year’s GSSD Expo in Vienna, Austria (2012).
In addition to the Business Matchmaking Space and the carbon offsetting commitment,
three separate sessions were organized and tailored to support specific stakeholder groups
utilizing SS-GATE.
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The CEO Forum, which was held on 29 October, was attended by 21 CEOs and by Dr. Evans Kidero,
Governor of Nairobi County, who delivered the keynote address. The CEO Roundtable session
was an engagement with the corporate community that provided clarity of the mission of the
Governor of Nairobi, highlighted the opportunities Nairobi has to offer as an attractive place for
foreign investment, and initiated a collaboration that enables global partnerships that will benefit
the city of Nairobi and the region.
At the conclusion of the CEO Roundtable, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
and UNOSSC signed a Letter of Exchange to signify future partnership. Further, the Community
Development Corporation Ltd., a private company based in Tanzania and Viability Africa, LLC,
based in Kenya, signed an agreement worth $21 million to build a hydropower plant in Tanzania.
SS-GATE brokered the deal.
On 30 October, SS-GATE organized a special session on project finance which responded to the
demand expressed by many SMEs, enterprises and entrepreneurs participating in the Expo. The
session, which included experts from SS-GATE, WIPO, CTI-PFAN, and Investors Club Uganda,
provided participants with financial advisory services. The session was attended by 50
participants, most of whom were SMEs and entrepreneurs seeking finance.
On 31 October, the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries,
Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and UNOSSC
co-launched the South-South Technology Transfer Facility for Landlocked Developing Countries
(LLDCs).
The Facility is designed to facilitate South-South transfer of viable, sector-specific technologies
aimed at developing and strengthening capacities and production in LLDCs. This initiative is a
direct response to the specific challenges that face LLDCs in various areas such as sustainable
agriculture, dairy and agro-food processing, water management, global health, climate change
adaptation and renewable energy. Six landlocked developing countries will be nominated to
pilot the initiative by initially establishing or strengthening national centres that will identify
technology local needs, source viable projects and facilitate the negotiations of the technology
transfers. The actual technology transfer and matching of potential technology providers with
the demand in LLDCs will be executed by SS-GATE. This initiative signifies the partnership
strategy undertaken by SS-GATE which establishes specialized institutional partnerships to deliver
services to targeted clientele, in this case, the LLDCs.
Launch of South-South Technology Transfer Facility for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)
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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE FOR SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION » SPECIAL REPORT
Endorsed by General Assembly in the Nairobi Outcome Document on South-South Cooperation
(RES 64/222), the SS-GATE is a global platform launched and developed by UNOSSC to facilitate
technology transfer, trade, and cross-border transactions between governments, private sector
entities and other stakeholders that are based in the Global South.
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Teresa Liu - [email protected]
Chief, Division of Development Solutions and Technology Exchange
UN Office for South-South Cooperation
Mr. Christopher Paek - [email protected]
Communications Consultant
UN Office for South-South Cooperation
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For more information, please contact:
Ms. Teresa Liu
[email protected]
Chief, Division of Development Solutions
and Technology Exchange
UN Office for South-South Cooperation
Mr. Christopher Paek
[email protected]
Communications Consultant
UN Office for South-South Cooperation