The UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology became the founding partner of the Centre for Industrial Competences on 16 August 2024 together with the BRICS partners. This is in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) the purpose of which is to improve industrial human capital development within member countries.
It was during the 8th BRICS Industry Ministers Meeting held in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia that this was launched. Sources said the meeting convened officials; industry, trade and technology ministries of the participating countries including the UAE, Russia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iran and South Africa. In the course of the meeting chaired by Russia, the participants discussed the following topic: “Improving the effectiveness of multilateralism for balancing common global development and security. ”
The newly established centre is intended to focus on the collaboration within the New Industrial Revolution (NIR) paradigm, and explore areas of mutual interest and concern in the modern industrial context. Its major goal is capacity support to industries and improvement of the industrial capacity of members of BRICS.
During the meeting, Omar Al Suwaidi, under-secretary of the UAE Ministry of Industry and advanced technology pointed at Russia as a leader. And he accentuated the importance of the BRICS – a group of countries that holds nearly 45% of the world’s population and one third of the gross world product. During his intervention Al Suwaidi underlined that within currently developing UAE the attention is paid to the enhancement of the cooperation with the partners in the framework of the sustainable development of the states and managing the critical challenges such as the food security, world climate change, etc.
The declaration comprises dedicated working groups from the sectors such as chemical industry, metals, SMEs, Smart Manufacturing, CleanTech, and medical equipment. The initiative is anchored on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on the ninth SDG, which entails industry, innovation, infrastructure.
This meeting also proposed the PartNIR Innovation Centre that provides policies, personnel training, and projects for industrial advancement. The event ended on the provision on Brazil as the upcoming host of the 9th BRICS Industry Ministers Meeting in 2025.
