The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on
Thursday opened its first Procurement Information Center (PIC) in
Yiwu, east China's Zhejiang
province.
The UNHCR helps and protects 192 million refugees worldwide and
those in refugee-like situations.
Michel Gabauden, a UNHCR representative in China and Mongolia,
said: "The objective of the PIC is to support UNHCR's sourcing
activities in China."
A PIC is tasked with procuring and/or purchasing
supplies.?
"Yiwu, as the largest marketplace of small commodities, owns
good transportation facilities, which can satisfy UNHCR's
requirements, that's why we established the PIC here," Gabauden
added.
Dong Hong, deputy director of the International Economic and
Technological Commission, said the current information exchange
system is inadequate. This has prevented the UNHCR from procuring
in China and he hopes the establishment of the PIC will help to
change things.
Prior to the PIC, the UNHCR established a Regional Supply Unit
in Beijing in 2004 that carried out essentially the same functions
as the PIC.
(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2005)