UNIDO Seminar was successfully held on 9 April 2019, taking opportunity of the visit of UNIDO Director General to Japan featuring Japan-UNIDO Multi-stakeholder Cooperation Dialogue “Industrialization and Innovation in Africa”.
On the occasion of UNIDO’s high-level visits, UNIDO has been regularly organizing the dialogue with public and private stakeholders in Japan, with an aim to strengthen the collaboration with UNIDO. This time, given that the next Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) will take place in Yokohama in August, guest speakers actively discussed the further development strategies in Africa from their own perspectives.
Director General LI made a keynote speech, by starting his presentation with a strong message that it will become a special year for Japan because of two important events such as G20 and TICAD7. Then, he introduced several concrete examples of partnership projects between UNIDO and the Government of Japan, and stressed the importance of strengthening stakeholders’ ties to advance further industrialization in Africa. Moreover, Japan can share the experience of successful economic growth with African countries through UNIDO’s industrial promotion activities. Finally, he added that it is necessary to take innovative approaches associated with SDG9 including digital technology advancement, in order to achieve women empowerment and industrial development in the region.
Then, Ms. Matilda Muweme of Regional Division-Africa, and Mr. Takeshi Nagasawa of Energy Department made presentations which are entitled ‘UNIDO programmes and projects in Africa’. They introduced UNIDO’s activities in Africa, supporting schemes which UNIDO offers for promoting industrialization, and several examples from UNIDO’s partnership projects with Japanese companies.
From the private sectors, Mr. Takashi Hattori, Executive Advisor, Toyota Tsusho Corporation stated that the company established the special department to accelerate African businesses, and addresses human capital challenges through CSR activities in the region. Mr. Masaharu Morita, Global Project Business Manager, Modality Solution Division, Medical System Business Division, Fuji Film, introduced the transition of their business models centering on human capital development projects.
As representatives of the African Diplomatic Corps, H.E. Mr. Estifanos Afeworki Haile, ADC Dean, and Ambassador of Eritrea, and H.E. Mrs. Ndiyoi Muliwana Mutiti, ADC Chair for Trade & Investment, and Ambassador of Zambia, stressed that developing human capital through education and skill training, and expanding domestic markets is essential to achieve further industrialization in Africa. Furthermore, they mentioned the importance of increasing the actual number of investments from Japan, although there is increasing interest in African market from Japanese companies.
In the last session of the seminar, the challenges and difficulties for Japanese companies to advance into African market were discussed. As a conclusion of the session, ADC delivered a strong message to the audience that Africa is not one region, thus it is necessary to examine carefully the business opportunities in each country.
The event, attracting around 130 participants, helped reaffirm the UNIDO’s commitment to the cooperation with all stakeholders in Japan and provided an opportunity to promote industrialization and innovation in Africa.
*Presentations can be downloaded by clicking the name of speakers below.
Japan-UNIDO Multi-stakeholder Cooperation Dialogue
”Industrialization and Innovation in Africa”
Outline
| Date/Time: | Tuesday, 9 April 2019, 15:00–17:20 (followed by a reception 17:30–18:30) |
| Venue: | United Nations University (UNU), 5th Floor, Elizabeth Rose Hall |
| Organizer: | United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) |
| Supporter: | MOFA, METI, ADC |
| Language: |
Japanese/English (Simultaneous interpretation) |
Programme
15:00 Opening remarks
– Mr. Yuko Yasunaga, Head, UNIDO ITPO Tokyo
15:05 Guest Speeches
– Mr. Kotaro Katsuki, Director, Global Issues Cooperation Division,
International Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)
– Mr. Takashi Konno, Director, Technical Cooperation Division, Trade and Economic
Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)
15:15 Keynote address
– Mr. LI Yong, Director General, United Nations Industrial Development Organization
15:30 UNIDO programmes and projects in Africa
– Ms. Matilda Muweme, Programme Officer, Regional Division-Africa,
UNIDO
– Mr. Takeshi Nagasawa, Senior Programme Management Expert,
Department of Energy, UNIDO
15:50 Japanese corporate business strategies for Africa
– Mr. Takashi Hattori, Executive Advisor, Toyota Tsusho Corporation
– Mr. Masaharu Morita, Global Project Business Manager, Modality Solution
Division, Medical System Business Division, Fuji Film
16:20 Presentations by the African Diplomatic Corps (ADC)
– H.E. Mr. Estifanos Afeworki Haile, ADC Dean, and Ambassador of Eritrea
– H.E. Mrs. Ndiyoi Muliwana Mutiti, ADC Chair for Trade & Investment, and
Ambassador of Zambia
16:40 Open stakeholders discussion / Q&A (30 mins)
– Moderator: Mr. Yuko Yasunaga, Head, UNIDO ITPO Tokyo
17:10 Wrap-up / Closing
– Mr. Hiroshi Kuniyoshi, Deputy to the Director General, UNIDO
17:30 Networking Reception (UNU, 2nd Floor, Reception Room)
-18:30
