The Promotion Center for Emergency Assistance of the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) in Guangxi Province, People’s Republic of China and the United Nations Office for Project Services—UNOPS—on 24 April 2007 agreed to use UNOPS advisory services to help create the “Guangxi International Humanitarian Emergency Assistance Park for the South of China and Southeast Asia” in the city of Nanning, China.
Expected to be fully operational by mid-2008, the Assistance Park will warehouse emergency supplies—such as tents, blankets, medical supplies, food, and construction materials—and manufacture emergency equipment for use in the event of natural or man-made disasters in the five South China provinces of Guangxi, Guangdong, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan and the ten member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
UNOPS Executive Director Jan Mattsson described this partnership as “a laudable humanitarian initiative that will benefit the entire region. UNOPS is proud to play a role in this important undertaking.”
The Guangxi Government has set aside 170 hectares for construction of the Park, with possible expansion to 600 hectares. The Park will have ready access to essential road, railway, air, and sea links. The province’s highway network will connect directly to the Park; a train station and airport are only five kilometers away and the closest port is about 100 kms distant.
The US$ 500 million Assistance Park—to be funded partly by The Promotion Center for Emergency Assistance of MCA in Guangxi Province—will include production facilities for life-saving and life support equipment, food, and temporary accommodations required in emergency situations. The Park’s 23 warehouses and production sites will have a capacity of 133,000 square meters.
The cooperation agreement between The Promotion Center for Emergency Assistance of MCA in Guangxi Province and UNOPS will initially evaluate Park construction plans, proposed Park management and staffing, and proposed operational aspects and logistics. UNOPS will design all operational mechan¬isms—including management of the Park, logistics, and procurement of goods, services, and works—and train the Park’s senior management in these various disciplines, and it will review project construction. UNOPS will also assist Chinese and Southeast Asian enterprises with registration in the United Nations procurement system.
Longer-term collaboration between MCA’s Promotion Center for Emergency Assistance and UNOPS will be defined over time. Procurement of management and logistics software, and establishment of a networking system with ASEAN countries and with United Nations relief agencies are subjects of a separate cooperation agreement. UNOPS expects to set up its own capacity in Nanning.