On 20 September 2022, the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) organized an online exchange on logistics among Ejisu and Kumasi of Ghana, Zhengzhou of China, and the Jizzakh Region of Uzbekistan.
Trade and transport play a critical role in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with targets and indicators spread across multiple goals. Enhancing logistics connectivity can connect people to trade opportunities and lead to significant job creation, greatly benefiting not only the logistics industry but surrounding industries.
Against this backdrop and under the framework of the UNOSSC Cities Project, which promotes South-South and triangular cooperation for sustainable development at the city level, the online exchange brought together experts and local authorities to exchange experience on logistics hub building and facilitate partnership brokering.
At the virtual exchange, representatives briefly introduced each city’s background, including industrial strength, existing logistics networks, and major transportation modes. For Ejisu and Kumasi, improving connectivity through infrastructure is essential to support trade and investment, which is also the most effective way to contribute to poverty reduction in many developing countries. And to avoid problems created by fast industrialization, proper planning and zoning are greatly needed.
For Zhengzhou, the heartland city of China, most cities are within overnight round-trip transportation, making it a trade and logistics center. It aims to become an international logistics hub to facilitate cross-border trade. For Jizzakh Region of Uzbekistan, apart from infrastructure, targeted policies and free economic zones are key to attracting investment and promoting economic development.
As a result of the event, Ejisu and Zhengzhou agreed to further explore South-South collaboration opportunities between the two cities. The next step is to exchange open trade and market access policies, as well as practices for improving logistics infrastructure and connectivity.
About South-South Cities Clusters
The UNOSSC Cities Project seeks to promote SSTC at the city and local levels. Under it, “South-South Cities Clusters” were launched on the South-South Galaxy platform to facilitate information sharing, knowledge exchange, networking, and project collaboration among cities, local authorities, UN agencies, and other development partners. Currently, it offers interactive thematic spaces on COVID-19 Response and Public Health; Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation in Resilient Cities; Sustainable Tourism, Heritage Protection and Creative Economy; Sustainable Agriculture Value Chain Development; E-Commerce, Digitization and Smart Cities; Sustainable Transport and Air Quality; Waste Management, Green Cities and Renewable Energy.