GE is set to deliver a transformational shift in localised innovation and manufacturing through a new partnership with the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit, GMIS, a joint initiative by the UAE Ministry of Economy and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, UNIDO, that is being co-hosted with the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development. The summit will be held in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and is the world’s first global gathering for the manufacturing community, bringing together leaders in business, government and civil society to shape a vision for the sector’s future.

GE joins the summit as a founding partner, introducing the company’s revolutionary industrial internet and additive manufacturing technology and capability. GE will also launch the ‘micro-factory’ model as part of its founding partnership, working with partners to build the region’s first additive manufacturing micro-factory.

Jeff Immelt, ?GE’s Chairman and CEO, described the partnership of GE with the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit as strategic in supporting the digital transformation of industry and economies. "Manufacturing is key to realising the vision of sustainable and diversified economies, and it is important we work with partners to progress the future of manufacturing. GE’s additive manufacturing and industrial internet enable us to support governments and industry in transforming economies through localised manufacturing and SME supply chain development, thereby accelerating the goals of job creation and human capital development.

"Through our partnership with GMIS, we are promoting a culture of innovation and exploring the co-creation of digital industrial solutions to address global challenges and boost the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector."

Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority and Chairman of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit Advisory Board, said, "We are at a critical juncture in the global economy, where new technologies and processes are changing the working environment. In manufacturing, many traditional and established roles are vanishing and, as a result, new industries and new jobs are being created.

"In this disruptive environment, we must look at innovative and unconventional ways of working, industry with industry, small businesses with global corporations, challenger brands with market leaders. GE’s initiative to promote the co-creation of products is exactly the kind of innovation that will drive growth and opportunity for the benefit of the global economy."

LI Yong, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, said, "GE’s partnership with GMIS makes a big contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and in particular Sustainable Development Goal 9 on building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation. This agenda is currently being implemented by a global partnership which includes governments, the United Nation system, and the private sector, amongst many others. It is thus important that we nurture new technologies and promote small and medium-sized enterprises to become partners in global value chains so that we can harness industry’s full potential to contribute to lasting prosperity for all."

The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit will be held at the Paris-Sorbonne - Abu Dhabi from 27th - 30th March, 2017. Around 1,200 delegates, including Heads of State, government leaders, ministers, policy makers and C-Suite executives from Global 2000 companies, are expected to attend