Rome, 16 May  2024 - In a bid to explore the transformative role of industrial policy in shaping sustainable development, the Division of Capacity Development, Industrial Policy Advice and Statistics (CPS) at UNIDO collaborated with ITPO Italy to host the plenary session "The New Era of Industrial Policy: Insights from UNIDO’s Industrial Development Report" at the CodeWay Expo 2024 – Business for Cooperation. The Expo serves as an international platform bringing together key stakeholders of development cooperation.

The key findings of UNIDO’s (forthcoming) flagship publication, the Industrial Development Report (IDR) 2024, titled “Turning Challenges into Sustainable Solutions: The New Era of Industrial Policy” were discussed at the session.

The IDR 2024 highlights industry’s leading role in driving economic growth, innovation and job creation, and in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Amid evolving global challenges and the impacts of megatrends, innovative, transformative industrial policies are urgently needed to guide nations towards inclusive and sustainable development pathways.

In his keynote address Giulio Tremonti, President of the Foreign and European Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and President of the Aspen Institute Italia, emphasized that the world is running out of time.

Important questions such as the future of industrial policy; public-private partnerships and financing for accelerating sustainable industrialization in least developed countries and opportunities presented by digitalization were addressed.

Marco Taisch, Scientific Chairman at World Manufacturing Foundation and Professor at Politecnico di Milano, remarked that “industrial policies geared towards building ecosystems that can integrate new technologies are key for sustainable industrialization, particularly in developing countries, where access to new technologies is limited.” He underlined the role of digitalization as “an enabler of innovation and technological transition”, noting, however, that “its progress is often faster than the diffusion of the skills necessary to put it to good use and thus the new globalization should be founded, first and foremost, on sharing of information and know-how”.

Stefano Gatti, Director General of Development Cooperation at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, closed the plenary session. Referring to the findings of the IDR 2024, he underscored the importance of regional approaches for achieving sustainable industrialization. He pointed out that “poverty starts in the food systems and ends in the food systems. Developing the agro-industrial sector is key to reducing extreme poverty, particularly in regions such as Africa, where 70% of the population works in the agricultural sector, most of whom rely mainly on subsistence agriculture.”

For more information on the IDR, please contact:
Alejandro Lavopa