(from left: Dr. Amitava Mukherjee, Officer-in-Charge of UNAPCAEM; Mr. Khalid Malik, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China)

Dr. Amitava Mukherjee, Officer-in-Charge of UNAPCAEM paid a courtesy visit on 17 July 2008 to Mr. Khalid Malik, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China. Mr. Malik expressed a warm welcome during the very cordial first meeting.

Mr. Mukherjee briefly introduced ESCAP and UNAPCAEM. As a multilateral regional institution of ESCAP, UNAPCAEM has been making its efforts to assist its member countries, in particular the 15 proactive member countries in achieving their Millennium Development Goals, and to make contributions to food security, rural poverty reduction, environmental sustainability, and developing global partnerships. Located in Beijing, UNAPCAEM has also established partnership with related ministries/organizations in China and has been involved in activities of the UN Country Team (UNCT) in China. For instance, in the successfully launched joint programme on China Climate Change Partnership Framework, UNAPCAEM shares the component of a feasibility study on the application of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in conservation agriculture and biogas.

Mr. Malik said the UNCT is a good country team, and he expressed his support to the work of UNAPCAEM. He hoped UNAPCAEM will make a difference under the guidance of Mr. Mukherjee.

Mr. Mukherjee, a citizen of India, has reported onboard in Beijing as Officer-in-Charge of UNAPCAEM as of 8 July 2008. He had worked in ESCAP since 2003 as Regional Advisor on Poverty Reduction before joining UNAPCAEM. In his over 30-year experience in development especially in the areas of poverty alleviation, community based planning for social development, participatory project management, monitoring and evaluation and capacity building, he has worked in Bangladesh, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Viet Nam, DPR Korea, the Philippines, Timor Leste, several countries in Central Asia and a few African countries. Mr. Mukherjee is a life member of several professional bodies including the Indian Economic Association, the Indian Econometric Society, Regional Science Association of India, the Indian Labour Economics Association and the Royal Economic Society of England.