• On Wednesday 5th November 2014, the UNIDO SPX Programme organised a network meeting in the ambit of the MIDEST Industrial Subcontracting Exhibition, held in Paris, France between the 4th and 7th November. Participants from around 28 SPX member countries participated in this event which, similar to previous years, served to convene the international SPX network, providing the opportunity for UNIDO to present the status and strategic vision of the SPX Programme as well as provide the ideal platform for business to business matchmaking discussions. Particularly, this year’s SPX network event comprised a roundtable discussion on the theme of ‘Local content and industrial subcontracting: Challenges and SPX solutions at the national level’. The round table discussion served to provide an overview of specific country experiences in positioning the SPX Programme as a prime solution to achieve emerging national local content goals and ensuing industrial subcontracting objectives. Discussions where animated by participant interventions which highlighted the crucial role that SPX programme plays in the process of drafting and implementing local content policies at the national level. The UNIDO SPX Programme increasingly serves to equip and enable national institutions and organisations with the right programmatic framework, tools and methodologies with which to manage the different pillars of effective local content management and development in their respective countries. As a result, the SPX Programme increasingly serves to enable local host institutions to become prime drivers of inclusive and sustainable industrial development supporting subcontracting linkages and exploring opportunities for supplier development. Interventions from representatives from Mozambique, Nigeria, Iraq, Cameroon and South Africa highlighted the growing need for further UNIDO technical cooperation and support to help developing economies and private enterprises address the emerging challenges emanating from local content policy frameworks.
• During the MIDEST Exhibition days, UNIDO organised a pavilion which hosted and supported several private enterprises and various SPX host institutions in their networking activities and in exploring B2B and matchmaking opportunities with both international buyers and suppliers. UNIDO SPX Programme has been present in MIDEST for the past 3 years. This active participation serves as an important international platform available to SPX host centres and respective enterprises to enhance internationalisation and investment promotion drive of enterprises in respective countries.
• The SPX UNIDO Coordination Office in Vienna met a delegation from the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO): Representatives from the UNIDO Investment Technology Unit (ITU) and UNIDO SPX held meetings with representatives from the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) concerning a framework of collaboration between the two sides in matters related to ongoing SPX programme implementation in third countries, participating in respective international network events as well as targeted service to SPX Centres in matters related to investment promotion, export platforms and capacity building. Further discussions to concretize this collaboration are ongoing.
• In March 2014, UNIDO SPX held technical meetings with representatives from Winning Moves and PROBE, UNIDO subcontractors providing the benchmarking service for the UNIDO SPX Supplier Benchmarking tool. As a result of the meeting, some adaptations will be made to the training curriculum and on the type of best practice examples to be presented. Implemented in several SPX member countries, the UNIDO SPX Benchmarking Tool helps support the inclusive sustainable enterprise and industrial development through the identification of productivity best practices and charting enterprise competitive performance.
• In November 2014, UNIDO formalized its partnerships with Deutsche Messe in a signed memorandum of understanding, to organize joint industrial trade fairs. The two organizations will work together to organize industrial trade fairs, particularly those focusing on supporting inclusive and sustainable industrial development in emerging and developing countries. As a first step, it is foreseen that UNIDO will have a stand at the world’s largest industrial fair, the ‘Hannover Messe 2015’. This will provide a platform for institutions and industrial enterprises from developing countries to present themselves in such an international setting. This new partnership holds a great potential given the synergies that can be reaped between both UNIDO’s worldwide networks, such as its Subcontracting and Partnership Exchange Centres (SPXs), its National Cleaner Production Centres (NCPCs) and its Investment and Technology Promotion Offices (ITPOs), and Deutsche Messe’s global industrial fairs networks in important markets like Brazil, India, China, Russia, Turkey and other countries.
