Second annual “BRIDGE for Cities – Belt and Road Initiative: Developing Green Economies for Cities”, organized jointly by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the Finance Centre for South-South Cooperation, to be held in Vienna, Austria from 26 to 28 September
Following the success of last year’s first annual “BRIDGE for Cities – Belt and Road Initiative: Developing Green Economies for Cities”, formerly referred to as the “One-Belt-One-Road Inclusive and Sustainable City Exhibition and Dialogue”, held at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, UNIDO and the Finance Centre for South-South Cooperation will be organizing the BRIDGE for Cities event on an annual basis in forthcoming years. This year’s event is set to be held once again at UNIDO Headquarters in Vienna, Austria from 26 to 28 September 2017.
The event promotes the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with which it shares many similarities, in all participating countries, to encourage municipal officials and development stakeholders to scale up their engagement in inclusive and sustainable urban and industrial development initiatives. Echoing the five pillars of the BRI and reflecting UNIDO’s mandate in inclusive and sustainable industrial development, the event’s urban-centric platform will provide ample opportunities for municipal stakeholders to forge partnerships and exchange development solutions and lessons learned.
This year’s BRIDGE for Cities event will focus on sector-specific urban and industrial development challenges within the framework of the BRI, which will aid in the development of concrete project-based opportunities for business matchmaking, financing and investment. Through the event’s high-level forum, “urban-industrial solution and business opportunity” sessions, matchmaking activities, exhibition and study tours, UNIDO will highlight cities’ dependence on industrial development for economic and infrastructural growth, as well as industry’s reliance upon resources readily available in urban areas. Project-oriented investment opportunity portfolios will also be developed to better facilitate partnerships between cities, private-sector enterprises and financial institutions.
The organizer’s warmly welcome all United Nations sister agencies to engage actively in the event’s myriad side events to enhance the visibility of their organization’s respective activities in the area of urban and industrial development. Opportunities are available to participate in matchmaking with municipal stakeholders and business enterprises, to organize an exhibition booth, and to tour the city itself from the perspective of integrated urban and industrial development through various study tours to Vienna’s waste incineration, wastewater treatment and smart-mobility centres.
For more information and to register your participation, please visit https://belt-road-2017.b2match.io/ or feel free to contact the organizers directly at bri@unido.org
