UNIDO China chief likely to face action - acted without permission of UNIDO HQ entering into legal contracts with 3rd parties

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PURNA BASNET

HONG KONG, Aug 21: The headquarters of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has indicated possible action against chief representative of the UNIDO office in China following the disclosure that UNIDO had not entered into any valid contractual agreement with the Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) to undertake development activities in Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha.

“Disciplinary action may be taken against the chief representative of the UNIDO office in China,” said a source at the UNIDO headquarters on Saturday.

The preparation for action indicates that Hu Yuandong, chief representative of the UNIDO office in China, had reached an agreement with the APECF on providing “institutional assistance” for Lumbini project without first consulting the UNIDO´s Vienna-based headquarters.

Yuandong had reached an agreement with Xiao Wunn, executive vice-chairman of the APECF, on providing technical cooperation for Lumbini Special Development Zone in Nepal on July 15.

But the UNIDO headquarters had clarified that it had not entered any deal as such. “UNIDO has not entered into any valid contractual agreement with the APECF, and therefore is not involved in any activities related to the Lumbini Special Development Zone in Nepal,” said Mikhail Evstafver, UNIDO Advocacy and Communication Coordinator, said in a statement on Friday.

Following the new development, an official from the APECF indicated that the US$ 3 billion project has come to an end. “What we had tried to do is to promote the Lumbini project by coordinating the investors. But the investors have been disappointed as the project was entrapped into a political hostility among various forces in Nepal,” a Beijing-based UNIDO official told Republica.

Meanwhile, the APECF has removed the name of former crown prince Paras Shah from the list of its co-chairmen on its website in English version.

Earlier, Shah was introduced as a co-chairman of the APECF in the website. “He is no longer a vice-chairman of the Foundation. The reason behind that is a political one,” the official said. But the official didn´t clarify whether it was Shah´s voluntary exit.