International Centre for Materials Technology Promotion

About:

The International Centre for Materials Technology Promotion (ICM), established in collaboration between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and UNIDO, has been operational since 2003. The UNIDO project supporting the establishment of the Centre ended in 2008. The ICM is hosted by the China Building Materials Academy (CBMA) and located in Beijing. The CBMA was founded in the 1950s and is the leading Research and Development organization for the building materials industry in China. The ICM staff have all been seconded by the national counterpart; the CBMA. 

Mission

• Set up a global framework and mechanisms to facilitate technology transfer and diffusion processes in new materials technologies
• Assist the developing countries to bridge the gap between market demand and technological base
• Strengthen South-South and North-South cooperation and meet the requirements of sustainable development in the materials industry

The project was designed with a total budget of approximately USD500,000 and with a three-year duration. Additionally, CBMA has supported ICM through various (unforeseen) in-kind contributions, including staff time. This has enabled an extended operational period and in a way implied that the CBMA is actually managing the Centre. The evaluation of the ICM took place from May to July 2009 and was carried out by the Director of OSL EVA and a national consultant and buildings material expert. The evaluation was carried out within a larger exercise - the Thematic Evaluation of UNIDO International Technology Centres (ITCs) - conducted by the UNIDO Evaluation Group in 2009. The ICM is one of around 10 to 15 UNIDO ITCs.