Experts will gather to facilitate global debate and vision setting for future of manufacturing and address key challenges and solutions for evolving the sustainable manufacturing landscape at a summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE next year.

The inaugural two-day Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) will take place in the second half of the year and will return to the capital in 2018, with the emirate hosting every second edition thereafter.

The biennial forum will bring together representatives from global governments, industries, civil society, students and academia to shape the future of manufacturing.

Hosted by the UAE’s Ministry of Economy with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) and in collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Agenda Council for the Future of Manufacturing, the summit will focus on innovation, infrastructure, capital, markets, value chains, policy, society, environment and skills.

It is expected to attract more than 1,000 government and industry attendees, plus representatives of civil society and more than 300 UAE and Gulf industrial stakeholders, students and academia representatives.

The high-level, first-of-its-kind initiative will be chaired by Unido’s director general Li Yong and the UAE Minister of Economy  Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori.

“This will be a global gathering of minds comprising public and private sector leaders and key representatives of civil society,” said Al Mansoori.

“They will shape a vision for the future of manufacturing. Historically and until today, manufacturing is an engine for economic growth, driving skills development, innovation and technology across all sectors.

“The UAE believes that industrial innovation is vital to our goal of building a sustainable, knowledge-based economy and this summit gives us the opportunity to address, and showcase, the country’s knowledge-based industrial sector to the world.

“Never before has manufacturing been the focus of such a meeting of minds that will enable all participants to share best practices and experiences from all over the world, facilitate knowledge transfer from leading international experts, along with the exclusive opportunity to strengthen business networks that could, eventually, stimulate foreign direct investment and economic activity in countries represented.”

Unido focuses on creating shared prosperity for all through promoting manufacturing activities while safeguarding the environment.   

The organisation is recognised as a specialised, efficient provider of key policy advisory and technical co-operation services, meeting the interlinked challenges of reducing poverty through productive activities, integrating developing countries in global trade through capacity-building, fostering environmental sustainability in industry, and improving access to clean energy.

The summit will be a catalyst for meeting these goals in line with manufacturing’s proven historic record as a crucially important source of national and international development which is still relevant today, said Yong.

“Recent examples of the role played by industrial development and manufacturing, including China, the Republic of Korea, and the many other Asian ‘tigers’ and ‘dragons’, speak for themselves. These success stories represent well-recognised models to foster structural change and industrial development while boosting economic growth and poverty reduction.

“Manufacturing industries and their related services sectors can absorb large numbers of workers, provide them with stable jobs and increase the prosperity of their families and communities.

“How much impact industry has on general economic development and on environmental sustainability is ultimately defined by the pattern of industrialisation that a country chooses to follow.

“A long-term strategy can put in place a framework of stable, economic, legal and political conditions. It can also create incentives to invest in the necessary education and infrastructure, to produce quality, agribusiness solutions, innovation and entrepreneurial skills.”

The director general said the challenge of promoting industrialisation which is beneficial for all, cannot be defined only in terms of higher levels of economic growth or value-added manufacturing.

“It will require a new vision of manufacturing that encompasses skills, employment and innovation and envisages the creation of a robust manufacturing eco-system that supports and benefits all stakeholders in society. No one can be left behind in benefiting from industrial growth and prosperity is shared among women and men in all countries,” he said.

As a response to these challenges, Uniodo is promoting inclusive and sustainable industrial development globally to harness the full potential of industry’s contribution to achieving sustainable development and lasting prosperity, he added.

“Nowadays, manufacturing is overstepping the limits of factories, creating a huge portion of its value added in all those services related to manufactured products. In addition, manufacturing firms are closer to being high-tech labs. Technology is changing at an unprecedented pace and technology transfer is more critical than ever,” said Yong.

Uniodo would use the summit as a global forum to address and identify solutions to the fundamental challenges of the manufacturing sector and help create ‘a new global declaration on the future of manufacturing,’ he said.

By identifying and encouraging the adoption of international best practice in sustainable industrial development, the summit is expected to spur greater investment in manufacturing, drive innovation and promote skills development worldwide.

It will also promote global competition amongst national and international organisations through the adoption of inclusive and sustainable industrial strategies, contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, enable international exchange of knowledge and technology; foster manufacturing capabilities development and promote global value chains across key manufacturing sectors. - TradeArabia News Service