His Excellency Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, met with His Excellency Gerd Müller, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), to discuss ways to strengthen collaboration to optimize UNIDO’s Competitive Industrial Performance (CIP) Index.

The discussions support both parties’ objectives and are in line with the goals of the Global Manufacturing and Industrial Summit (GMIS), a joint initiative between the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) and UNIDO.

The virtual meeting was attended by His Excellency Ambassador Hamad Al Kaabi, Ambassador of the UAE to Austria, and His Excellency Omar Ahmed Suwaina Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of MoIAT. Attendees underlined the importance of forming a joint team between MoIAT and UNIDO to help achieve the ninth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which is to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

The meeting is part of the Ministry’s plans to enhance the capabilities and competitiveness of the industrial sector, as well as to consolidate relations with relevant regional and international institutions in support of the national industrial and advanced technology strategy. The meeting covered enhancing competitiveness, exchanging industrial information to serve the global value chain, incentivizing investment in research and development, and supporting diversification of industries using advanced technology.

The meeting also touched on the UAE’s contribution and support to the Hydrogen in Industry Day event planned at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt. Delegates also discussed forming a taskforce to create a roadmap to enhance cooperation in the build up to COP28, which will be held next year at Expo Dubai.

The choice to host the conference in the UAE represents the international community’s appreciation for the country's efforts and active role in climate action. This includes environmental protection and capacity building in the field of clean and renewable energy, reducing emissions and limiting global warming.

UNIDO’s CIP Index benchmarks the ability of countries to produce and export manufactured goods competitively. It provides a graphical summary capturing the competitive performance of countries. The UAE is currently ranked first in the region.