For information only - not an official document
UNIS/OUS/396
27 April 2018
HANNOVER, 26 April (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) - The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) again had a strong presence at the annual Hannover Messe, the world's leading industrial trade fair which attracts over 6,500 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors. UNIDO has participated in the Hannover Messe every year since 2015 to provide a platform where institutions and industrial enterprises from its Member States can promote themselves at this important international trade setting.
Fulfilling one of its core functions of convening stakeholders and brokering partnerships for knowledge transfer, networking and industrial cooperation, this year UNIDO organized a variety of events.
At the UNIDO stand in the Global Business Markets Section, UNIDO Director General LI Yong welcomed co-exhibitors representing UNIDO's Investment and Technology Promotion Offices in Germany, Korea and Nigeria, as well as those representing Subcontracting and Partnership Exchange centres in Cameroon, Colombia, Iran and Mozambique.
Li stressed that "participation in international events such as Hannover Messe serves as an opportunity for the Organization to actively promote its work in the field of international trade, investment promotion and technology development and highlight UNIDO's role in helping its Member States to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that form part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development''.
During the morning of 25 April, UNIDO together with the United Arab Emirates organized promotional events on the Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit (GMIS) around the theme, 'Finding innovative solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: Role of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies'. These included a panel discussion and TEDx-style talks by Solve, an MIT spin-off that works with innovators who are outside Silicon Valley to promote innovations that address development challenges. Represented in one of the talks, Urban Alps, a start-up based in Zurich, is revolutionizing the security world with metal 3D printed keys that cannot be copied or hacked. The third TEDx-style talk was on the Fourth Industrial Revolution's compatibility with inclusive and sustainable industrial development.
The GMIS interactive event also welcomed elevator-style pitches by two start-ups from Turkey and Morocco presenting their renewable energy innovations. The start-ups were drawn from the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP), a joint initiative by UNIDO and the Global Environment Facility, which promotes an innovation and entrepreneur ecosystem by identifying and nurturing innovators and entrepreneurs working with renewable energy sources.
At a gala dinner later the same day, DG Li participated in the launch of the Initiative for Global Prosperity (IGP), which has evolved within the framework of the GMIS. The IGP aims to inspire innovators worldwide to design technological solutions to pressing global development issues, using existing knowledge on robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and automation.
The GMIS Co-Chairs, DG Li and the Minister of Energy and Industry of the United Arab Emirates, Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, reaffirmed their organizations' positive collaboration on GMIS in a bilateral meeting. They also signed a Joint Declaration, underlining their intention to co-host the 2019 GMIS and bilateral Summits thereafter, and to collaborate towards the achievement of the SDGs through the promotion of modern technologies within the sphere of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
On the margins of the Hannover Messe, DG Li met with Jochen Köckler, member of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe, to reiterate their commitment to work together to support Member States on trade and investment promotion, Industry 4.0 and technology transfer for developing countries.
Li also visited the stand of Siemens where he was welcomed by the Chief Executive Officer, Process Automation, Eckart Eberle who presented a range of new products in the area of Internet of Things (IoT) and Digital Twins as digital representations of physical machines. He also visited the stand of Phoenix Contact, a worldwide market leader of components, systems and solutions in the area of electrical engineering, electronics and automation. The CEO of Phoenix Contact, Frank Stuehrenberg, presented the company's main products such as high power charging solutions for electrical vehicles and cloud-based system solutions for smart cities. Both partners showed great interest in deepening further cooperation and to organize subsequent bilateral meetings in the near future to discuss how progressive technological solutions can foster inclusive and sustainable industrial development in developing countries.
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For further information, please contact:
Stefan Kratzsch
Industrial Development Officer
UNIDO Department of Trade, Investment and Innovation
Email: S.Kratzsch[at]unido.org
Or
For more information on GMIS, please contact:
Adot Killmeyer-Oleche
Senior Industrial Policy Research Officer
UNIDO Department of Policy, Research and Statistics
Email: GMIS[at]unido.org
