- Long-term future for oil and gas if carbon capture technologies improve quickly – John Kerry
- UK is looking to secure free trade agreements with countries in the GCC region over the next year – Lord Grimstone
- GMIS launches the Global Biomedical Industrial Centre with UNIDO and the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology as its new legacy initiative
- GMIS announces GMIS America, set for inaugural edition in Pittsburgh in 2022
- GMIS has become a global springboard for sustainable industrial solutions – Badr Al-Olama
Dubai, United Arab Emirates : Global leaders from government, industry, and academia came together in The United Arab Emirates this week to chart a greener future for the manufacturing sector at the fourth edition of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (#GMIS2021).
Co-chaired by the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the GMIS Week convened over 250 state actors, industry leaders, and civil society members out of over 5000 attendees across 70 sessions from November 22-27.
Across the six-day GMIS Week, world-class leadership joined the discussion at GMIS including four heads of state, two representatives of heads of state, two former prime ministers, four senior representatives of the United Nations, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, and 25 UAE ministers.
Badr Al-Olama, Head of the GMIS Organising Committee, said: “Our world has come to a critical juncture. It is one where the decisions we make today will have a vital bearing on what our future will look like tomorrow. Many factors have brought us to this point. Technology is just one of them. Just about every way in which we do and experience things has changed, much for the better.
“Along the way, we have encountered many challenges. But none of the challenges have stood out most starkly before us as the one presented by Covid-19. So drastic has the pandemic’s impact been that we may well wonder what imprint it is going to leave behind. It seems fair to ask whether its legacy might be anything like the two world wars whose horror and devastation set off massive social, economic and political shifts that changed the course of history. But by bringing the world practically to a standstill, the pandemic has given us an opportunity for reflection.”
Al-Olama added: “We have seen the fragility of our existing world in the shape of renewed geopolitical tensions between the big powers. But what we have also seen is a growing awareness of the impact that our modern lifestyle is having on the natural environment. The fearsome specter of climate change is expressing itself ever more destructively in the form of extreme weather events. Humanity simply has to gather the will to enact change for a new world order that is more sustainable, inherently inclusive and relentlessly resilient to unpredictable black swan events.
“To reach such a dispensation is going to require leadership of extraordinary quality. It is our time to demonstrate to the next generation that we did everything we could to secure them a promising, bright and prosperous future.”
The first two days of the GMIS Week were dedicated to #GMIS2021. Climate action took centre stage on Day One of the Summit. Heads of state, ministers, and other high-level speakers emphasised the importance of developing zero-carbon advanced technologies to help industry drive a sustainable post-COVID-19 recovery and achieve global climate targets.
A highlight of the Summit saw John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change, call on India, China, and Russia to “come on board” with the rest of the international community to raise climate ambitions and make stronger commitments to reducing their emissions to keep the chance to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels alive.
“Today, we have countries that comprise 70 percent of global GDP committed to reducing their emissions by half by 2030. So obviously we still need that 30 percent, we have to get them on board – and that's India and Russia and China,” he said in a fireside chat entitled ‘COP26 and beyond… Sustaining momentum’.
Addressing the question that the oil and gas sector was underrepresented during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Kerry said: “I don’t agree. The oil and gas industry has never had a hard time having its voice heard.”
Expressing a belief that hydrocarbons have a long-term future if carbon capture technologies improve quickly, he added: “The challenge of oil and gas is not the industry itself, it’s the byproduct of what happens to it. What will govern it is the cost of energy in the market.”
During the opening ceremony of the two-day Summit, H.E. Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and GMIS Co-Chair, outlined the challenges faced by the industrial and trade sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what is now needed to renew growth and spur opportunity.
“For industry leaders, the lesson of the post-pandemic recovery is clear: Real recovery requires resilience,” he said, adding that industrial progress “depends on smart partnerships”.
“As the UAE celebrates its 50th anniversary,” he said, “our leadership has issued a blueprint for prosperity for the next 50 years. It is our guide to building a dynamic, world-leading economy. And at the core of that blueprint is partnership. No economy exists in a vacuum – and we know that progress is faster when people work together. In that spirit, I invite all of you to partner with the UAE. Together, we can reinforce our collective resilience, we can all succeed and help bring prosperity to the world.”
Later on day one, Lord Gerry Grimstone, UK Minister for Investment, addressed the global audience at the GMIS platform to state that the UK is looking to secure free trade agreements (FTAs) with countries of the GCC region over the next 12 months.
Day Two witnessed the birth of two major initiatives. First, H.E. Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, announced that the Ministry will adopt the Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI), the global standard used by the World Economic Forum to assess digital transformations for the UAE’s industrial sector.
GMIS America was announced at the close of #GMIS2021 by Namir Hourani, Managing Director of GMIS. The inaugural edition of the annual event will take place in 2022 in Pittsburgh as a tribute to a city that has rebounded from significant industrial challenges.
Day Three of the GMIS Week saw key objectives for improving targeted areas of the industrial sector be drafted over the course of three working groups. Experts from world-leading corporate organisations, and government entities explored ways of promoting a more gender-responsive and safer manufacturing sector, in addition to developing a policy brief for the Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) Index followed by draft action points devised for the future of industrial safety.
The GMIS Working Group for promoting gender inclusivity discussed how evidence suggests that the developments seen across the manufacturing sector and driven by Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies disproportionately benefit men in comparison to women, primarily because the gender bias in the job market see women be more densely concentrated in sectors that are more susceptible to automation.
A final GMIS Working Group gathered policymakers, manufacturers, and safety innovators from around the world as part of the GMIS Week’s mandate to develop the Global Initiative for Future Industrial Safety.
Highlighting the latest trends in alternative and renewable energy, the Green Chain Conference, also on Day Three, concluded that a clean energy transition is essential for keeping global warming within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, however, hydrocarbons will remain part of the global energy mix for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, at the opening of the Global Prosperity Conference, H.E. Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs, called on governments around the world to invest in young people or risk their economies falling behind. “Governments who understand the compound interest of youth earn big dividends. Governments who don’t understand will pay for it,” she said.
ON November 25, the UAE and Italy looked at ways to increase collaboration in the biomedical sector during a country-focussed conference gathering key delegates from both nations. Badr Al-Olama said: “There is ample scope to work together in new areas, such as biomedical technology. Developing smart healthcare solutions is key to facing future pandemics as we recover from COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, Barbara Beltrame Giacomello, VP Internationalisation at Confindustria, showcased the tremendous potential of the rich bi-lateral relations between Italy and the UAE, with focus on export and imports spikes in manufactured biomedical supplies, research and development partnerships among top-tier universities, along with future prospects at the turn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Together, the speakers advocated to drive Industry 4.0 capabilities and processes in the field of manufacturing and industrialisation.
H.E. Nicola Lener, Italy’s Ambassador to the UAE, highlighted the parallels between the two nations’ industrial and manufacturing strategies as presenting clear opportunities for bilateral growth.
On Day Four, Australia Day witnessed the signing of two agreements aimed at building trade and business collaboration between the UAE and Australia, as well as the launch of the final report of the Australia UAE Business Council’s Renewable and Alternative Energies Working Group.
At the UAE-UK Conference, ministers, trade officials, and business leaders from the two countries stressed the importance of bilateral agreements and investments to ensure the most carbon-intensive sectors can contribute to national 2050 net-zero targets.
Young adults engaged with experts in sustainability and technology from the industrial sector at the youth-oriented Generation Future conference that took place over the last two days of the GMIS Week. Dedicated to empowering the new generation to make its mark in industries of the future and sustainable development, the event aimed to advance knowledge transfer and skills development through a series of masterclasses and workshops by partners from the public and private sectors as well as academia. The agenda included sessions hosted by Dubai Future Foundation, Mubadala, General Motors, G42, SAP, Accenture, and Schneider Electric.
Day Five also featured the Esports Conference, co-hosted by GMIS and the Global Esports Federation, that brought together officials from the GEF and its local member body, the Emirates Esports Association. The event witnessed the signing of a strategic partnership agreement between the two entities, focused on driving the development of the esports segment in the GCC region. In addition, the participants highlighted the role of online gaming in forging human connections during the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed high hopes for the region’s future as an esports hub.
The GMIS Week ran from 22 to 27 November at Expo 2020’s Dubai Exhibition Centre under the theme ‘Rewiring Societies: Repurposing Digitalisation for Prosperity’. The platform included #GMIS2021, the Green Chain Conference, the Global Prosperity Conference, country-focused conferences in partnership with the UK, Australia, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates, the Generation Future conference, the Esports Conference, and a six-day manufacturing and advanced technology exhibition showcasing some of the UAE’s most innovative capabilities.
-Ends-
About GMIS:
The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) was established in 2015 to build bridges between manufacturers, governments and NGOs, technologists, and investors in harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s (4IR) transformation of manufacturing to enable the regeneration of the global economy. A joint initiative by the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), GMIS is a global platform that presents stakeholders with an opportunity to shape the future of the manufacturing sector and contribute towards global good by advancing some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The first two editions of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit were held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates in March 2017, and Yekaterinburg, Russia in July 2019, respectively, with each edition welcoming over 3,000 high-level delegates from over 40 countries. The third edition, GMIS2020, was held virtually in September 2020 and convened over 10,000 attendees and close to 100 thought-provoking leaders from governments, businesses, and civil society.
#GMIS2021, the fourth edition of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit, was held once again in the United Arab Emirates from November 22 to 27, alongside EXPO Dubai, under the theme – Rewiring Societies: Repurposing Digitalisation for Prosperity.
To learn more about GMIS, please visit https://gmisummit.com/ and follow GMIS on Twitter: @GMISummit, Instagram: @gmisummit, LinkedIn: GMIS - Global Manufacturing & Industrialisation Summit, and Facebook: @GMISummit.
Press Contact:
Reethu Thachil
Head of PR and Communications
EYESOME X, Press Office for:
Global Manufacturing & Industrialisation Summit
Mohammed Bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity
reethu@eyesomex.com
© Press Release 2021
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