France Contributes €200,000 to Future OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology
In the picture the French Ambassador H.E. Mr. Luis Vassy, and OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands–31 March 2021–The Government of France has contributed a further €200,000 to a special Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Trust Fund to support the construction of a new facility, the OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology (“ChemTech Centre”).
The contribution was formalised during a ceremony between the Permanent Representative of France to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Luis Vassy, and OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, which was held today at OPCW Headquarters in The Hague.
Ambassador Vassy stated: “I am very honoured to announce today this new donation from France, which will allow the OPCW to launch the construction of the ChemTech Centre. Serving our collective security, the future Centre will strengthen the OPCW’s ability to address the threat of the re-emergence of chemical weapons use. It will also be a centre of excellence and a training platform, in the interests of international cooperation. We are pleased to contribute to bringing this project into existence and we recall France’s unwavering commitment to the Chemical Weapons Convention.”
The Director-General expressed his gratitude to the Government of France and noted: “With this generous contribution from France, the ChemTech Centre Trust Fund has met its fundraising target for the Centre’s construction. This is an important milestone in the project that will allow the OPCW to sign the contract with the selected construction company and immediately initiate the preparations for the construction to begin in the summer.”
Director-General Arias expressed his gratitude to the OPCW States Parties and other donors who supported the project. He further emphasised the important role the new ChemTech Centre will play in strengthening the OPCW’s ability to address chemical weapon threats and enhance capacity building activities to the benefit of all 193 OPCW Member States.
So far, 46 countries, the European Union, and four other donors have contributed or pledged to contribute financially to the ChemTech Centre project, and €33.6M has been raised to date.
States Parties are encouraged to continue participating in this important project. Voluntary contributions will further be used to finance equipment and activities related to International Cooperation and Assistance to be performed at, by and/or through the ChemTech Centre.
