Watch the recording of the session on Youtube.

Read the event summary.

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting our understanding and approach to globalization to the test. The cumulative effect of supply bottlenecks and falling consumer demand coupled with increasing calls for domestic production of (essential) goods is challenging the existing global architecture of production, trade and investment flows.

Yet, the pandemic is only the latest in a series of global shocks and emerging mega-trends that have shaken the pillars of international production networks. Indeed, COVID-19 seems to be accelerating some of the trends that were already manifesting within the world’s value chains, including the growing role of digitization, regionalization of production networks, and the focus on proximity to key consumer markets.

Companies and governments alike are currently reassessing the way goods flow across borders, and they are in search of targeted solutions for tackling fragility in industry supply chains. Thus, the process of recalibration of global trade and production networks is also expected to bring to the forefront novel industrial policy approaches to reap the benefits from GVCs in both developed and developing economies.

• How can we understand value chain risk as a result of external shocks and emerging mega-trend and do we need to rethink existing approaches to international production and global sourcing?
• What options do companies have for improving resilience of their global footprint?
• How can policy and international cooperation help build resilience? Are there already “good practices” at the horizon?

Those are some of the key questions to be discussed at the virtual event organised by UNIDO in cooperation with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Kiel Centre for Globalization.

Speakers:
LI Yong (Director General, UNIDO)
Gabriel Felbermayr (President, IfW Kiel)
H.E. Rania Al-Mashat (Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt)
Susan Lund (Partner, McKinsey and Leader, McKinsey Global Institute)
Ricardo Hausmann (Professor, Harvard University)

The 2019 Forum on Globalization and Industrialization, The Future of Global Value Chains – How the Fourth Industrial Revolution is Changing Global Production Networks, took place at the headquarters of UNIDO on 19 November 2019. It was the fourth in a series of annual forums jointly organized by UNIDO and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) to focus on issues related to global production, trade and investment. 

During the event, policymakers, and representatives from international organizations, academia and business discussed the challenges and opportunities of technological shifts for global value chains (GVCs) to drive inclusive and sustainable development. The discussions served to support evidence-based policymaking at the international level and to facilitate an exchange of ideas.

Find full press release here.

Dedicated Youtube playlist is available here.

World-renowned policy experts and academics, as well as high-level practitioners and policymakers came together on 18 June 2018 for the Forum on Globalization and Industrialization to explore the potential of Global Value Chains (GVCs) for driving structural change.

Participation in GVCs provides important opportunities for firms to access international markets, absorb new technology, and rapidly expand their economies of scale. However, technology requirements for entering into GVCs are more demanding than ever and there is a tangible risk that developing economies will remain trapped in lower value-added activities along the value chains.

Find full press release here.

Dedicated Youtube playlist is available here.

The event was jointly organized by the Kiel Centre for Globalization (KCG) at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). It built on the "Vienna Investment Conference: Quality FDI, Growth and Development" which was jointly organized by UNIDO and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and held in September 2016 in Vienna.

The Conference took place on September 18-19, 2017 in Kiel, Germany. It aimed to bring together academics, policy makers, representatives from international organizations and businesses to discuss the challenges and opportunities – and the possible future – of the proliferation of global value chains (GVCs). The focus was on how to make the most of global production sharing in the digital age and to ensure that GVCs are shaped in such a way as to foster “inclusive” and “sustainable” development of all countries involved.

The overarching theme of the Conference reflects the interests of the G20 during the Germany’s Presidency in 2017, where issues on how to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth; free and fair trade and globalization; and issues concerning the spread of digital technologies are high on the agenda. The Conference was organized under the auspices of the Think 20 network. Think 20 (T20) is an engagement group of G20 and it is co-chaired by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in 2017. The Conference was particularly linked to the T20 Task Force on “Trade and Investment”. Linking in with the T20 network allows both the KCG and the UNIDO to signal to the G20 their interest and expertise on these topics, and to provide research-based policy inputs into the ongoing debates among the G20 countries.

Find event details here.

Find full press release here.

Foreign direct investment (FDI), driven by activities of multinational enterprises, have been increasingly regarded as one of the defining characteristics of the world economy and an engine of economic growth. FDI related externalities have been attracting increased interest from emerging and developing countries because of perceived benefits in terms of the injection of capital, technology and knowledge as well as the potential generation of economic growth. Most recently, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have further highlighted the importance of such investments as crucial welfare-improving mechanisms, for instance in infrastructure development, industrialization and innovation.

World-renowned policy experts and academics, as well as high-level practitioners and policy makers, gathered in Vienna from 14 to 15 September for a conference that looked at current trends and potential perspectives related to international investment flows.

Organized by UNIDO and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the event took place at the Vienna International Centre.

Find event details here.

Find full press release here.

The Forum on Globalization and Industrialization (FGI) is a series of annual forums jointly organized by UNIDO, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) and the Kiel Centre for Globalization (KCG). 

For the past few years, the Forum has brought together policymakers, international organizations, academia and private sector. The FGI highlights the areas where stakeholders are already working together, and provides a platform for discovering of new avenues of cooperation on the issues related to industrialization, global trade and investment. In the age of technological and international trade uncertainty, FGI is aiming to address the challenges and opportunities of globalization and industrialization, especially in the current COVID-19 crisis.