The key event of the first day of the GMIS 2019 was a plenary session attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking about Russia’s approaches to solving common fundamental problems that shape global development, Putin said: «Russia is currently launching ambitious scientific and technological programmes, and they will have a powerful environmental dimension, including in such areas as artificial intelligence, new materials, genomic technologies and ‘clean’ solutions for agriculture, portable energy sources, and technologies for its transfer and storage. We intend to utilize the potential of our leading companies with state participation in order to realize these objectives.»
United Arab Emirates Minister of Energy Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrui, Mubadala Investment Company CEO and Managing Director Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Li Yong, and Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov also took part in the discussion of the agenda at the plenary meeting.
The plenary session delegates noted the problems and increasing uncertainty in today’s world associated with globalization, economic stagnation, social unrest, trade wars, and the unpredictability of politics and economy in certain countries.
Addressing the delegates, United Arab Emirates Minister of Energy Suhail Mohammed Al Mazrui said: «We are trying to unite all countries and private companies in an effort to share knowledge, new technologies, and investments in industrial production for the world’s sustainable development. In an effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we have diversified the economy, which resulted in the dependence on oil in the country’s GDP decreasing to 30%. In 2017, we adopted a strategy based on renewable energy sources — the sun and peaceful atom — which will enable us to reduce CO2 emissions by 17% by 2050. We are developing the strategy we have adopted — this is our success story.»
UNIDO Director General Li Yong said the GMIS is an important forum for solving global issues. He pointed out that Industry 4.0 not only means new opportunities, but new problems as well, and one of the biggest problems is a reduction in jobs. According to the organization’s forecasts, 20 million jobs may disappear by 2030 solely because of the emergence of robots. «We need a comprehensive development strategy and UNIDO is trying to help technological progress by promoting new opportunities,» he said.
Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov noted that the industrial revolution creates new opportunities to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Manturov said nature-like technologies are among the most promising areas. In Russia, roughly 10% of companies are actively introducing IT technologies, artificial intelligence, and digital formats into their production processes, while another 40% of companies are potentially ready for this. «At the same time, Russian companies have no concerns about a loss of jobs in connection with the use of the latest technologies,» he said. «The country has a strategy for its own industry, but at the same time we are open to collaboration and ready for cooperation. We invite investors and rely on their common sense,» Manturov said.
Mubadala Investment Company CEO and Managing Director Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak spoke about opportunities for working in Russia. He noted that the company works in 50 countries with 15 industries and is actively looking for areas where there may be new opportunities. The company has been collaborating with the Russian Direct Investment Fund in Russia since 2010 and this cooperation currently involves hundreds of millions of dollars. He said human intelligence is the foundation for the development of modern technologies. Over the next 10 years, the impact of artificial intelligence will be felt in all sectors. Everyone who uses these technologies will gain a competitive advantage. In conclusion, he said that investments in Russia would continue.
