BERLIN – The Investment and Technology Promotion Offices (ITPOs) of Germany and Beijing, China, have joined forces during a visit to the German capital to build stronger relationships between investors, technology providers and their potential partners in developing countries.

To this end, the delegation from UNIDO ITPO Beijing, led by Yabin Wu, worked with Rolf Steltemeier, Head of ITPO Germany and Olaf Deutschbein, Head of the ITPO Germany Berlin office, to achieve greater impact on joint investment and technology promotion activities - in line with the mandate of the UNIDO ITPO Network.

The delegation participated in high-level meetings at the German Bundestag (the national parliament), the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, as well as with the President of the Federal Association of German Waste Management, Water and Circular Economy (BDE) and at Bayer Global (Pharmaceuticals).

Together with the World Economic Council (Internationaler Wirtschaftssenat), and ITPO Beijing, the ITPO Germany Berlin office also organized an event at the BSP Business & Law School where experts from business and academia shared insights on global supply chains and the impact of the new German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act and the European Union’s new directives on corporate sustainability due diligence on global trade, sustainability and innovation.

In a panel discussion, there was widespread agreement that a move towards de-globalization (a less connected world, characterized by powerful nation states, local solutions and border controls, rather than global institutions, treaties and free movement) is the wrong approach to current challenges, especially for developing countries. Reliability and sustainability in supply chains, on the other hand, is a great opportunity, while doing nothing is a major business risk.

Yabin Wu also presented the brand new UNIDO Global Call 2023 to the business representatives present. Companies from Germany have already applied.