Friends of Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (FoISID)
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STATEMENT BY THE PERMENENT REPRESENTATIVE OF ETHIOPIA, H.E. AMBASSADOR TEKEDA ALEMU, ON BEHALF OF FRIENDS OF INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AT THE 10TH SESSION OF THE OPEN WORKING GROUP ON SDGs, APRIL 2, 2014
Co-Chairs,
I have the pleasure to deliver this statement on behalf of twenty-one likeminded Member States of “Friends of Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development”. These are: Algeria, Austria, Belarus, Benin, China, The Commonwealth of Dominica, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, the Russian Federation, Spain, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and the African Union. We plan to be more concrete on targets as we go along, but for now what follows reflects as the group’s Strong consensus.
The cluster of issues debated today is essential for achieving the kind of transformative shift we need in order to make poverty eradication irreversible. Many efforts have been undertaken in the past to tackle this issue. The MDGs set the ambitious goal of reducing by half the number of people living in extreme poverty on global level, which has been achieved five years in advance. Nevertheless, progress remains uneven. The SDGs present the international community with a unique opportunity to tackle poverty once and for all, and to promote sustainable development for all countries.
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We will not succeed in eradicating poverty without sustained economic growth and without addressing the issue how countries, and particularly developing countries, can increase their productive capacities and restructure their economies.
Industrialization is one of the main drivers behind sustained economic growth and job creation. Since the first industrial revolution, the same experience has repeated itself over and over again.
The current economic crisis reinforces this view. Those countries that have continuously built up their industrial sector have weathered the storm of the crisis better than others. Efforts in many parts of the developed world to re-industrialize their economies are testimony to the fact that industrialization is an agenda for both developed and developing countries. It is a truly universal agenda.
It is also clear that old models of industrialization will not continue to work in the future. We need a different kind of industrialization today – one that is socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. Our group is therefore of the view that “inclusive and sustainable industrial development” must be included in any successful development strategy. It is a key to solving the global unemployment crisis which has disproportionately affected our young people. It is essential to increase resilience, economic diversification and provide employment opportunities and decent jobs especially for the youth. It can also contribute to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. Furthermore, sustainable agro-industries can have a major impact in reducing rural poverty.
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Its benefits stretch far beyond the economic sphere. The group of friends is convinced that industrial development today needs to happen within an environmentally sustainable framework. Sustainable consumption and production, preserving our climate and preventing natural resource loss remain major challenges for all countries. Solutions to those challenges cannot ignore the industrial sector which accounts for thirty percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing the latter will take us a long way in ensuring that industrialization and sustainability can go hand-in-hand so that we do not need to choose between them.
Moreover, industrialization needs to take place in a framework of good governance. Establishing effective, accountable and transparent institutions, the rule of law, and improving public finance management are essential to provide an enabling environment for investment in industries and industry-related services. An international enabling environment is of paramount importance to support sustainable industrial development and inclusive and sustained economic growth.
Co-chairs, our group is confident that Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development provides a concrete space into which the three dimensions of sustainable development can be integrated in practice. The linkages to development goals beyond those clustered for today’s debate are ample and rich. Industrialization must, therefore, be an essential component of any coherent and holistic post-2015 development agenda.
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Putting in place goals and targets to accelerate the increase in manufacturing, as well as establishing targets that promote sustainable and inclusive industrialization will lead to a stronger economy, job creation and increased wealth. This will, in turn, allow us to finance major social issues, thus putting the international community on a better path towards solving the major development challenges of the 21st century. Therefore, our group would like to express its attachment to a set of SDGs and a Post-2015 development agenda where the issues of industrialization and inclusive and sustainable industrial development feature prominently.
I thank you.
STATEMENT BY THE PERMENENT REPRESENTATIVE OF ETHIOPIA, H.E. AMBASSADOR TEKEDA ALEMU, ON BEHALF OF FRIENDS OF INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AT THE 10TH SESSION OF THE OPEN WORKING GROUP ON SDGs, APRIL 2, 2014
Co-Chairs,
I have the pleasure to deliver this statement on behalf of twenty-one likeminded Member States of “Friends of Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development”. These are: Algeria, Austria, Belarus, Benin, China, The Commonwealth of Dominica, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, the Russian Federation, Spain, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and the African Union. We plan to be more concrete on targets as we go along, but for now what follows reflects as the group’s Strong consensus.
The cluster of issues debated today is essential for achieving the kind of transformative shift we need in order to make poverty eradication irreversible. Many efforts have been undertaken in the past to tackle this issue. The MDGs set the ambitious goal of reducing by half the number of people living in extreme poverty on global level, which has been achieved five years in advance. Nevertheless, progress remains uneven. The SDGs present the international community with a unique opportunity to tackle poverty once and for all, and to promote sustainable development for all countries.
2
We will not succeed in eradicating poverty without sustained economic growth and without addressing the issue how countries, and particularly developing countries, can increase their productive capacities and restructure their economies.
Industrialization is one of the main drivers behind sustained economic growth and job creation. Since the first industrial revolution, the same experience has repeated itself over and over again.
The current economic crisis reinforces this view. Those countries that have continuously built up their industrial sector have weathered the storm of the crisis better than others. Efforts in many parts of the developed world to re-industrialize their economies are testimony to the fact that industrialization is an agenda for both developed and developing countries. It is a truly universal agenda.
It is also clear that old models of industrialization will not continue to work in the future. We need a different kind of industrialization today – one that is socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable. Our group is therefore of the view that “inclusive and sustainable industrial development” must be included in any successful development strategy. It is a key to solving the global unemployment crisis which has disproportionately affected our young people. It is essential to increase resilience, economic diversification and provide employment opportunities and decent jobs especially for the youth. It can also contribute to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women. Furthermore, sustainable agro-industries can have a major impact in reducing rural poverty.
3
Its benefits stretch far beyond the economic sphere. The group of friends is convinced that industrial development today needs to happen within an environmentally sustainable framework. Sustainable consumption and production, preserving our climate and preventing natural resource loss remain major challenges for all countries. Solutions to those challenges cannot ignore the industrial sector which accounts for thirty percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing the latter will take us a long way in ensuring that industrialization and sustainability can go hand-in-hand so that we do not need to choose between them.
Moreover, industrialization needs to take place in a framework of good governance. Establishing effective, accountable and transparent institutions, the rule of law, and improving public finance management are essential to provide an enabling environment for investment in industries and industry-related services. An international enabling environment is of paramount importance to support sustainable industrial development and inclusive and sustained economic growth.
Co-chairs, our group is confident that Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development provides a concrete space into which the three dimensions of sustainable development can be integrated in practice. The linkages to development goals beyond those clustered for today’s debate are ample and rich. Industrialization must, therefore, be an essential component of any coherent and holistic post-2015 development agenda.
4
Putting in place goals and targets to accelerate the increase in manufacturing, as well as establishing targets that promote sustainable and inclusive industrialization will lead to a stronger economy, job creation and increased wealth. This will, in turn, allow us to finance major social issues, thus putting the international community on a better path towards solving the major development challenges of the 21st century. Therefore, our group would like to express its attachment to a set of SDGs and a Post-2015 development agenda where the issues of industrialization and inclusive and sustainable industrial development feature prominently.
I thank you.