GMIS signs pact to put manufacturing at heart of future co-operation with Poland

Saturday 05 November 2016

Dubai - MENA Herald: The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) has underscored its role as a facilitator and global promoter of manufacturing activities by signing a pact with the Polish Chamber of Commerce to strengthen manufacturing links between Poland and the global community. GMIS, which will be held in the UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi, in March 2017, is the world’s inaugural global gathering for the manufacturing community, bringing together leaders in business, government and civil society to shape a vision for the sector’s future through the confluence of technology and innovation. The Memorandum of Understanding, signed in the Polish capital, Warsaw, will harness the power of new technology to open up opportunities for Poland with trade, investment and subcontracting, using GMIS as a gateway to global value chains, knowledge and influence in the global manufacturing sector. In his speech at the signing ceremony, HE Robert Grey, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, said: “Manufacturing in the future will definitely be different from today. Some countries are rapidly adapting their industrial infrastructures to exploit the opportunities available in the globalized world, as manufacturing becomes faster and more responsive to changing markets. Successful countries will be the ones with a wider skill base and qualified policy makers who are able to cope with the new technological, economic, social and environmental trends. Constant adaptability will be necessary for all aspects of manufacturing: from research and development, through to production and marketing. Those with a business as usual approach will not survive, and conscious manufacturing will power growth in both emerging and developed economies. “GMIS will provide the platform for better policy making for manufacturing and will trigger new concepts and ideas for bilateral cooperation globally,” HE Grey concluded. Speaking in Warsaw, Mr Badr Al-Olama, CEO of Strata and member of the GMIS Organising Committee, welcomed the signing of the partnership, saying it demonstrated GMIS’ international reach and represented the first step towards promoting nations to adopt greater emphasis on manufacturing activities globally. “By signing this pact with the Polish Chamber of Commerce, we are creating a gateway for manufacturers in Poland to promote their products and capabilities to an international audience. As an example, Poland has managed to triple its trade with the UAE over the past five years, and that has been mainly due to their open and collaborative approach to its trading partners. As GMIS is focused on transformation, regionally and globally, we believe that manufacturers in Poland can make an even bigger difference in the global economy, with new opportunities for both social and economic value creation,” said Mr Al-Olama. Andrzej Arendarski, President of the Polish Chamber of Commerce, described the partnership with GMIS as an important step in the country’s progress with reindustrialisation and global manufacturing. “We want to transform Poland from being Europe’s leading manufacturing hub into a global manufacturing powerhouse, driven by innovation, technology and high-skilled manufacturing activity,” he said. “Since 1989, Poland has been one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, more than doubling our gross domestic product. Now, we are developing a new model for the Polish economy that relies on the transformative power of ICT. GMIS offers us an important platform to introduce our value proposition to new networks in the UAE, the wider Middle East, and the rest of the world. We aim to promote new opportunities for Poland and drive investment in our manufacturing sector to grow and strengthen our economy,” said Mr Arendarski. The MoU signed by GMIS with the Polish Chamber of Commerce should help manufacturing companies link with their counterparts in Poland, and enhance opportunities for collaboration and partnership in manufacturing and industrial activities. Poland is targeting innovation as a key growth enabler. Its government is targeting areas such as biotechnology, new materials, food and energy, moving Poland away from low-skilled, capital-intensive manufacturing towards a future powered by knowledge, innovation and technological development. Between now and 2020, the Polish Government will invest more than €10 billion in innovation as the country seeks to turn new ideas into companies and become more competitive. Since Poland joined the European Union in 2004, the country’s economy has been growing at an average rate of 3.9 per cent annually. Poland’s stability and talent pool are considered draws for investment in modern manufacturing facilities, professional services capabilities, and research and development projects. The signing ceremony, held in the Polish Chamber of Commerce in Warsaw, was attended by senior government representatives including Sławomir Dębski, Director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs, as well as academics, policy analysts and industry leaders. They discussed critical drivers of business growth, and how the global technological disruption will affect international trade and investment in the coming years. About GMIS As the world’s first cross-industry forum, GMIS is a global gathering for manufacturing minds. It is a voice and a venue for global manufacturing transformation. More than 1,200 delegates will attend, including world leaders, industry CEOs, policy-makers, specialist researchers and academics. GMIS will deliver (i) a voice for transformational ideas, (ii) a venue for the generation of new networks and cross-industry partnerships, (iii) a showcase for pilot projects arising from cross-industry research, and (iv) a post-event report with recommendations for action to be submitted to global stakeholders. It is planned that GMIS will be held in leading global cities every other year, with the inaugural GMIS in Abu Dhabi in March 2017.

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