For information only - not an official document
UNIS/OUS/337
21 March 2016
Re-issued as received
BEIJING, 21 March 2016 (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) - Because conventional national statistics and methodologies are not enough to study global value chains and their implications on economic development, a new joint research will be carried out by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) of China.
This innovative approach in research, to be funded by China, was announced in Beijing today.
"Global value chains are increasingly playing a leading role in production and trade for international markets. Today, more than half of manufactured products in trade are intermediate goods that require further processing in other countries. As a window of opportunity to access international markets, to absorb new technologies and to follow international standards of production, global value chains have tremendous implications for inclusive and sustainable industrial development - a key component of Sustainable Development Goal 9," said Nobuya Haraguchi of UNIDO's Policy, Research and Statistics Department.
The joint research will examine global value chains at the macro, meso and micro level combining quantitative, qualitative and case study analyses.
The project will explore issues that are relevant for both low- and middle-income countries in Asia to facilitate their integration into global production chains and greater access to markets and technological upgrading.
Researchers at UNIDO and UIBE will also examine how global value chain structures and their evolving features can be described based on data; how their integration can be linked to the enhancement of production capabilities and sustained industrial development; what lessons can be gleaned from China's integration into global value chains, and how these lessons can be adapted to other countries and sub-regions in Asia. The necessary policies for successful global value chains-driven inclusive and sustainable industrial development, as well as UNIDO's role in fostering such dynamics will also be reviewed.
UIBE has recently established an institute focusing on global value chain research, with experts expanding the frontier of the knowledge in this field. UNIDO has also accumulated research and technical cooperation experience in the field and built a research network involving leading experts. To meet the project's objectives, UNIDO and UIBE will collaborate closely with numerous international organizations and experts from around the world.
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For more information, please contact:
Nobuya
Haraguchi
UNIDO Industrial Research Officer
Email: n.haraguchi[at]unido.org
