Acting Executive Secretary of ESCWA Khawla Mattar signed on 23 April 2017 on behalf of ESCWA a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sudanese Minister of Trade Salah Mohamed Al-Hassan on behalf of the Ministry in order to provide a framework for inter-institutional dialogue and cooperation on matters of common interest in the fields of sustainable development until the end of 2019. The ceremony was attended by Sudanese Minister of Communication and Information Technology Tahani Abdallah Attia.
 
Shortly before signing the MoU, Mattar stressed that this occasion is the culmination of years of joint efforts between ESCWA and Sudan in the various fields of sustainable development ever since the Sudan joined ESCWA in 2008. She added that the MoU will be a framework of cooperation between the two sides over the period 2017-2019, to be renewable.
 
For his part, Al-Hassan underscored that Sudan might be one of the countries that have the most availed from ESCWA services, adding that all ministries and concerned sides are ready to provide all the cooperation needed in order to optimise these services over the forthcoming period under the framework of the MoU on technical cooperation between the two sides.
 
Attia praised the longstanding ties between ESCWA and Sudan, and particularly the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, in light of the joint efforts exerted in the fields of electronic services, incubators, and IT crimes.
 
The two parties agreed to develop and implement activities in six key areas: achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; trade and investment; economic modeling and technology in policy making and impact forecasting; renewable energy with a focus on biomass; develop the statistical infrastructure including that of supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and develop the System of National Accounts; and integrated social policies including disability monitoring and poverty reduction.
 
Both ESCWA and the Sudanese Ministry of Trade will review this technical cooperation framework and the agreed activities in the light of priorities to be presented by the ministry in mid-2018.