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Last week in Nanjing, China, the UN Technology Bank with global experts looked at ways to accelerating technology transfer to the world鈥檚 poorest countries.

Led by UN Technology Bank Managing Director Deodat Maharaj, this forward-looking session provided an opportunity for delegates at the 2024听 (WAITRO) to hear from global leaders in technology and innovation, as well as the private sector. The emphasis was to sensitise the leading industrial research organizations on the opportunities that exist in the Least Developed Countries and why it was important to find ways concrete and practical ways to transfer technology to the people of these countries.

Professor Hasan Mandal, President of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (T脺B陌TAK) and President of WAITRO highlighted the importance of fostering collaboration with least developed countries in science, technology and innovation. However, he noted that technology transfer was more complex than it may seem as the 45 Least Developed Countries have diverse and differing priorities. According to him, the first step is to understand the needs of the least developed countries. In this regard, he highlighted the value of the UN Technology Bank鈥檚 Technology Needs Assessments. 听听

Explaining China鈥檚 rich experience in building ecosystems for sustainable results Wang Qin,听Director听General听of听the听Committee听of听Science听and听Technology,听Jiangsu听Province described the considerable economic growth in the region over the past four decades. He noted this was a result of implementing science, technology and innovation policies.听He said the main reason for the success was continually learning lessons from other countries such as Germany, Japan and Singapore. 鈥淭he key contribution to growth is what we call total factor productivity. That's a contribution of STI to the growth of economy.鈥� he explained. 鈥淲e can make things happen. If it can happen here in Jiangsu, there is no reason to believe it cannot happen in another part.听 I firmly believe the LCDs have the opportunity to do so.鈥�

Jean-Marc Champagne, Principal and Managing Director Seneca Impact Advisors Limited shared his views on how to get business involved in delivering solutions for least developed countries. He said: 鈥淚n order to make the private sector thrive, you have to have the right government policies in place. Because if you don't have that, then the private sector is going to be treading water and not making a lot of progress.鈥� 听He cited the example of Seneca Impact Advisor鈥檚 work in Laos PDR that focused on coffee production as a strategy for diversifying the economy and generating export revenue in a climate and ecologically friendly manner. He underscored the importance of adding value to exports, such as processing coffee beans instead of exporting them raw as way to enhance productivity and economic gains.

Offering his perspective on a regional approach to delivering solutions on industrial development, Hans-Erich Schulz, CEO Caribbean Industrial Research Institute said that small territories such as those in the Caribbean are an immediate disadvantage for scale in terms of markets. Therefore, he stressed the importance of industrial research supporting small and medium enterprises: 鈥淲hile we tend to focus on larger entities, small and medium entities come to us all the time for expansion into other markets, and right away, the cost goes up because they have to meet all these extra requirements. This is one way to right away accelerate economic activity and tap into smaller entities and smaller enterprises and increase your economic base and taxation base. All governments will benefit from it,鈥� Mr Schulz added.

During the interactive Q&A session, Prof. Liu Qing, Director of the National Innovation Center par Excellence and the President of Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute; made a call for enhancing WAITRO鈥檚 contribution to LDCs by widening its network and partnerships all around the world. This view was echoed by participants who stressed the need to support technology transfer to LDCs and build partnerships with research institutions in LDCs.

Looking ahead, President of WAITRO spoke to the importance of the UN Technology Bank working with WAITRO and its membership of industrial research organizations to deliver results via technology transfer to LDCs.

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WAITRO is a global not-for-profit organization that provides a forum for research and development experts to amplify their efforts towards solving global challenges.

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To view the full panel discussion, please click .