United Nations' Secretary General António Guterres has called to place advanced technologies at the heart of the global recovery and fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, which has halted and devastated economies and infrastructure across the globe, in a speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) on 4 September.
The summit saw the meeting of close to 100 world leaders from both the public and private sector for a series of more than 20 virtual sessions to best formulate a pathway to best accelerate the growth of new technologies instrumental in bringing about Industry 4.0, also known as the fourth Industrial Revolution.
The event was first held in 2015, to act as a bridge between manufacturers, governments, NGOs and investors, in placing technology at the forefront of human development.
Their primary aim at the 2020 summit was to help build more resilient global supply chains and restore prosperity in a post-pandemic world.
Guterres focused on several weak points the recent pandemic exposed, as well as zeroing in on how digitisation and clean energy could shape the world of tomorrow.
Opening for the summit, the UN Secretary said: “The world’s reliance on manufactured products can be seen clearly through the shortage of critical supplies and disruptions in global value chains, yet we have also witnessed a leap in digitisation for learning, working and connecting with others.
"Technology has the potential to restore business, improve industrial efficiency and safety, and fortify critical infrastructure. Digital technologies must not increase the risk of unemployment for women or worsen economic and other inequalities.”
He added: “Efficient, green technologies can help to mitigate more than 70% of today’s emissions. Renewable energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels. We need industries to take rapid and ambitious steps that will get the world to carbon neutrality by 2050.”
Co-chair of GMIS and UAE Minister for Industry and Advanced Technology, Dr Sultan Ahmed, said the pandemic has only shown that global supply chains are as strong as their weakest link and the UAE is harnessing technology to reinforce its supply chains.
“The UAE believes that advanced technologies have a vital role to play in protecting and enhancing global supply chains from global shocks.
"By embracing technology, we will also nurture a knowledge-based economy and create an ecosystem that supports and creates sustainable jobs. We will unlock greater value from sectors where we have existing strengths, including energy, petrochemicals, metals, and logistics.
"We will target sectors that strengthen our self-sufficiency, including water and food and agriculture. And we will create value in new high growth sectors like biotech, health, and pharma.”
Li Yong, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Developmental Organisation said the pandemic exposed the interconnected link between global supply chains and society, adding that it has proven how much societies depend on them for everyday goods and services.
He added: “In these extraordinary times, a sense of clarity is more important than ever. The Fourth Industrial Revolution will not only impact on the factory floor but also across society. No matter how influential, no one actor can control this phenomenon alone.
"We can only hope to shape an inclusive and sustainable 4IR through building strong multi-stakeholder partnerships with representatives of national governments, multilateral organisations, the private sector, the research community, and civil society.”
Similarly, Denis Manutrov, Minister of Industry and Trade for the Russian Federation said that global supply chains should be revised.
He said: “Today, we should completely revise the approaches defining our industrial and commercial ties. Initiatives that were considered long-term priorities should be launched urgently. In order to minimise the negative impact of the pandemic, and get back on track for sustainable development it is necessary to increase transparency of the trade regimes, and to lower tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade.”
Badr Al Olama, Head of the Organising Committee for GMIS delivered a keynote speech calling for collaboration between nations and calls for the countries of the world to pause and think of the opportunity the pandemic has caused to reassess priorities.
He said: “The crisis has turned our attention from distant horizons to closer surroundings, serving as a timely reminder of the importance of cultivating local and regional markets, and magnifying the need for more agile, more responsive and more resilient value chains. It has also led to heavy changes and drastic shifts in industrial operations, which may very well be the beginning of a new, hybrid, reality that will further blur the lines between physical and virtual activities.
“As challenging as this new reality may seem for most of us in the manufacturing sector, coupled by the geopolitical shifts and protectionist sentiments that have overwhelmed us in recent years, we must strike a sensible balance between having efficient and competitive supply chains whilst also securing necessary and flexible local capacity.”
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