The Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), LI Yong today launched the Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit (GMIS) Initiative, together with Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The first summit of a series to be hosted by UNIDO and the UAE’s Ministry of Economy, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for the Future of Manufacturing, will take place in the second half of 2016. The summit will address diverse aspects of manufacturing including innovation, infrastructure, small and medium-sized enterprises, value chains, industrial policy, the environment and skills, and is expected to bring together over 1,000 participants, among them top-level government officials, top leaders from the private sector, representatives of civil society and academia, as well as other stakeholders.
At the presentation of the GMIS initiative on 2 June 2015 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, UNIDO Director General Li emphasized that all sections of the public and private sectors and civil society need to intensify their efforts to build “a resilient infrastructure to promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, while fostering innovation”. He added that the Summit would be a catalyst for meeting these goals in line with manufacturing’s proven historic record as a crucial source of national and international development.
Minister Al Mansoori, stated that “manufacturing and the knowledge-based and innovative industrial sector currently accounts for around 11 per cent of total gross domestic product, and the aim is to make it grow to 20 per cent in 2020, and 25 per cent in 2025.”
On the basis of these objectives, Minister Al Mansoori said he views the GMIS initiative as a tool to “facilitate knowledge transfer from leading international experts, bring potential partners to the UAE to encourage investment and increase inflow of foreign direct investment, and help develop local SMEs by exposing them to international best practices and capital sources”.
In his speech, Director General Li asserted that the first Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit will offer a unique opportunity to debate industrial and manufacturing issues in depth, and will serve as a global forum to address and identify solutions to the fundamental challenges that the manufacturing sector faces. Through a series of national and international consultations, government representatives, the private sector, international organizations, academia, research institutions and civil society will be given the opportunity to provide their views and help create a ‘New Global Declaration’ on the future of manufacturing.
By identifying and encouraging the adoption of international best practice in sustainable industrial development, the Summit is expected to boost investments in manufacturing, drive innovation and promote skills development worldwide. It will also promote global cooperation amongst national and international organizations through the adoption of inclusive and sustainable industrial strategies, contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, enable international exchange of knowledge and technology, foster manufacturing capabilities development and promote global value chains across key manufacturing sectors.