Madrid - MENA Herald: The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) and the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations (CEOE) signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a high-level meeting at CEOE’s headquarters in the Spanish capital, Madrid. The agreement will see the two partners collaborate on promoting environments that are more conducive and supportive of innovation and disruption, in light of the unprecedented growth of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies that are reshaping processes and products for the manufacturing sector.
The meeting was attended by more than 150 enterprises and 21 embassy representatives from Asia, America, and Europe. Amongst the attendees were Her Excellency Dr Hissa Abdulla Ahmed Al-Otaiba, the UAE Ambassador to Spain; Mr Juan Rosell, Chairman of the CEOE; Mr José Luis Kaíser, Director General of International Commerce and Investments and Mr Alejandro Cros Bernabéu, General Deputy Director of Industrial Sectoral Policies, both from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness; Mr Badr Al-Olama, Chief Executive Officer, Strata Manufacturing, and Head of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit Organising Committee; Mr Guillermo Ulacia, Chairman of CEOE’s Industry and Energy Commission; and Mr Ángel Luis Bautista, Director or Institutional Relations of Repsol. Focused around the prospects and future of the industrial sector in Spain, Europe and globally, a series of presentations was moderated by Mr Enrique Verdeguer, Director of Esade Business and Law School.
Established in 1977, today the CEOE supports more than two million companies and entrepreneurs from across Spain on a voluntary basis, covering all sectors of the economy. The partnership with the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit will look at ways in which Spanish manufacturers from across industry sectors can leverage opportunities created by 4IR technologies and emerging global value chains. The CEOE is the latest organisation to partner with the Summit, joining a global network which includes industry and trade bodies from across Europe, Asia and the MENA region.
The inaugural Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit will be held at the Paris-Sorbonne Abu Dhabi, UAE, from March 27-30, 2017. A joint initiative by the UAE Ministry of Economy and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and co-hosted with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, the Summit will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The Summit is the world’s first global gathering for the manufacturing community, bringing together leaders in business, government and civil society to shape a vision for the sector’s future.
Mr Juan Rosell, Chairman of the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations, said: “Organisations such as ours provide businesses with a voice in the global marketplace, enabling them to influence decisions that are critical to their success – such as the implementation of legislation, and the opening up of new investment avenues. Partnering with GMIS will give our members access to a world of rapidly emerging opportunities spurred by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and new global value chains. We are keen to use this partnership with GMIS to advocate for those causes that will lead to the increased growth of our members’ businesses, and in terms of our capacity to steer them towards contributing towards the sustainable future of manufacturing and industry in Spain and beyond.”
Her Excellency Dr Hissa Abdulla Ahmed Al-Otaiba, the UAE Ambassador to Spain, said: “This is a partnership through which we seek to create sustainable economic growth by strengthening the manufacturing sector, and unlocking opportunities provided by fast-emerging technologies and new global networks. These are areas which have been identified by the UAE as critical to our continued diversification, job creation, and economic sustainability, and it is rewarding to witness a global initiative that is driven by the UAE and UNIDO partnering with an organisation that shares the UAE’s aims and objectives. We look forward to working with GMIS and CEOE to find innovative new ways of harnessing emerging opportunities for the manufacturing community in our respective nations, as well as globally.”
Badr Al-Olama, Chief Executive Officer, Strata Manufacturing, and Head of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit Organising Committee, said: “The Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations fosters development in one of the areas that is crucial to the sustainable growth of economies and communities around the world: entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises. Fledgling businesses have been given a phenomenal opportunity in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with the Internet of Things opening up opportunities that have never before been available to growing and traditional industries. The guidance of bodies such as the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations, and the role the Confederation plays in terms of international advocacy, is fundamentally aligned with the objectives of GMIS.”
The CEOE membership is linked to the Confederation through more than 4,000 base associations, across more than 200 territorial and sectoral organisations in Spain. Small and medium-sized enterprises are represented by the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CEPYME), which is also affiliated to CEOE, as is the Spanish Federation of Self-employed Entrepreneurs (CEAT).
The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit is a global platform for participating attendees to learn from best practices from all across the world. This unprecedented global gathering will spark new ideas and set the stage for debate and action - addressing ways in which manufacturing can shape and reshape the world, integrating activities between developed and emerging markets, and delivering on social responsibility towards future generations. Leaders from the public and private sectors, along with representatives from civil society organizations, will gather to discuss global challenges within the manufacturing sector, looking specifically at six themes: technology and innovation; global value chains; skills, employment and education; sustainability and environment; infrastructure; standards; and stakeholder alignment.
