By Wang Lihua
Since China launched the"Silk Road Economic Belt" and the"21 Century Maritime Silk Road" Projects in 2013, the UNIDO has been actively involved in the largest and most effective international platform initiated by China. Through cooperation with development-oriented financial institutions and the private sector, the upgrading of industry and infrastructure and the improvement of the sustainable investment environment have been facilitated. In terms of concrete implementation, the UNIDO jointly launched a number of relevant projects with other partners via global forums and project promotion.
Achieve the inclusive and sustainable development by taking"the Belt and Road Initiative" as the hub
Since October 2016, the UNIDO has organized an annual activity of"The inclusive and Sustainable Urban Exhibition and Dialogue of The Belt and Road Initiative" (hereinafter referred to as the"The Belt and Road Initiative Conference"), which has become a major flagship activity within the United Nations system for the implementation of"The Belt and Road Initiative".
At present,"The inclusive and Sustainable Urban Exhibition and Dialogue of the Belt and Road Initiative" has been held two times. The annual"the Belt and Road Initiative" echibitions and dialogues included“ developing urban green economy and building bridges for urban sustainable development”.The conference aims to promote the implementation of the 2030 sustainable development agenda, which has many similarities with it, and strongly support and encourage municipal officials and development stakeholders to strengthen their input in the area of inclusive and sustainable urban and industrial development, and create a platform around urban development that allows development stakeholders to exchange experiences, share challenges and ultimately form partnerships through the promotion of the Belt and Road initiative.
This year, UNIDO conducted an innovative roadshow to the General Conference of The Belt and Road Initiative. According to certain standards, four cities along the"the Belt and Road Initiative" line, such as Chengdu and Shanghai of China, Trieste of Italy, and Vienna of Austria, were selected as the host cities of the road show to hold the annual road show in 2018. The Shanghai road show has chosen the commercial project competition as the start, which focuses on intelligent manufacturing, smart cities and circular economy to select five enterprises to demonstrate solutions in urban sustainable development during road shows.
In October 2018, the third“City Congress of The Belt and Road Initiative”, to be held in Vienna, will build a demand-driven two-way platform to promote cooperation and investment through demonstrating specific solutions to urban industrial development and the future program of their respective governments for sustainable development, and by taking advantage of the needs and challenges shared by stakeholders in major cities. The conference is expected to be attended by more than 1000 people from more than 150 cities and 80 countries.
In addition to the Conference of The Belt and Road Initiative, the UNIDO has also actively participated in or contributed to the organization of a series of international or regional forum events, such as UNIDO Day at the Shanghai Trade Fair, UNIDO Day at Xiamen, the North-East Asian Economic Forum in Changchun, the Ukrainian Forum and the South Pacific Conference, which builds knowledge sharing, experience exchange and project promotion platform for countries and enterprises along the Belt and Road. In November of this year, the first China International Import Expo will be held in Shanghai. As one of the three international support agencies, UNIDO will fully support and participate in it.
Actively develop the series projects of"The Belt and Road Initiative" to promote regional cooperation
In addition to global forums,theUNIDO focuses on"the Belt and Road Initiative" and the development of countries along the road. Through the South-South Cooperation Projects of"the Belt and Road Initiative" and other project mechanisms of UNIDO, the UNIDO can provide many opportunities for cooperation in the three areas including sustainable production and consumption, innovation of green technologies and enhanced international cooperation
At present, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan along the ancient silk road in central Asia are all actively participating in the construction of"The Belt and Road Initiative". From 18 to 19 April this year, the UNIDO organized a forum on"Development Zones for China and Central Asian Countries" in Shanghai to conduct the field visits to development parks in the area of agriculture and intelligent manufacturing in Shanghai. The project is set up by UNIDO in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank to contribute to the inclusion and sustainable industrial development of the new Silk Road Economic Zone, which is expected to have a better understanding of the role of the new generation of science, industry and technology parks and cities in the pursuit of inclusion and sustainable industrial development in the region.
The"Maritime and Land Silk Road" alliance project of the United Nations has a promising future
The"Maritime and Land Silk Road" alliance project of United Nations is also coordinating knowledge building and planning in various areas through the Steering Committee of the MCSR cities Alliance, the MSCR Mayors Forum, the MSCR Urban Business Council, the MSCR Alliance Project Management Group, and other institutions to achieve the common project objective of“opening up local trade, investment and cooperation”. The project, launched in 2015 by the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, UNIDO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Tourism Organization, aimed to raise awareness of inclusion and sustainability, upgrade the green industrial growth model and ecological industrial park, strengthen the building of institutional capacity, the urban networks of"maritime and land silk road", center of excellence, and achieve the integration of industry and economy in all relevant countries.
The UNIDO intends to launch a new round of national partnership plans this year, which focuses on countries along the Belt and Road, including Kazakhstan in Central Asia, and Cambodia. The national partnership plans is also a new type of assistance approach launched by UNIDO following the arrival of the director general of Chinese nationality, Li Yong, which changes from the original provision of a single technical assistance project to the provision of advice on the overall industrial development strategies for a country.
（ Investment Promotion）
