Chandigarh, Aug 21 (IANS): The Punjab government on Wednesday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

It was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal by UNDP Resident Representative Shoko Noda and state government Principal Secretary Jaspal Singh.

Under the agreement, a Sustainable Development Goals Coordination Centre (SDGCC) would be set up in the Planning Department with the UNDP's support.

The Chief Minister said that the agreement would result in the integration of the administrative departments to ensure sustainable and holistic development of the state.

Singh hoped that these goals would go a long way in achieving the desired results of various citizen-centric schemes and development-oriented programmes in a time-bound manner.

Amarinder Singh asked the Employment Generation Department to tie up with the UN agency to explore new possibilities for the skill development as well as self-employment and better employability of the youth in the private sector.

Citing the success of his government's flagship programme 'Ghar Ghar Rozgar', he assured the visiting delegation of all possible assistance in giving an impetus to skill development and employability plans.

Earlier, Badal thanked the UNDP for partnering with Punjab for implementing the SDGs, whose framework has already been adopted by the state government, which has started working on the preparation of a four-year Strategic Action Plan for 2019-23.