The 10 th Session Multi-year Expert Meeting on Investment, Innovation and
Entrepreneurship for Productive Capacity-building and Sustainable Development,
was convened on 27–28 September 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The meeting was held under the auspices of the United Nations Committee on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Antigua and Barbuda’s Director for
International Trade, Joy-Marie King, who was among the participants at the
meeting.
King reported that the gathering of experts critically assessed the recent
developments, challenges, and opportunities in sustainable economic
diversification. Specifically, the areas addressed were:
Developing countries diversifying their economies towards sectors with lower
carbon emissions; and
The policies, instruments, and institutional reforms needed at the national and
international levels to promote more sustainable diversification and innovation.
King who also oversees the country’s move to implement the SDGs and also serves
as the UNCTAD Focal Point within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, provided
further insights into the discussion held over the past two days. According to
King, “a major takeaway is the fact that the implementation of the Sustainable
Development Goals will provide small states like ours with the opportunities of
achieving sustainable economic diversification and innovation.”
For Example, she noted, “SDG 9-Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure purports
building resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable
industrialization and supporting innovation. It is a proven fact that industrialization
positively correlates with SDG progress, and the industry has the tremendous
potential of bridging the digital divide plaguing small states because of its high
innovation content.”
King is of the view that the time has come for the designing of a national industrial
policy that is SDG-oriented; supports public-private coordination; is future-
ready/propelled by digitalization; context-based and addresses regional priorities,
challenges, and opportunities.
