OHNO, Izumi

Speaking at APO Productivity Talk: “Productivity and the SDGs”

On November 19, 2020, Prof. Izumi Ohno gave a talk on “Productivity and the SDGs” at a webinar, organized by the Asian Productivity Organization (APO). She discussed the business sector’s role in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the need for developing countries to join and upgrade Global Value Chains (GVCs). Special attention was given to the apparel industry, a typical starting point for developing countries with significant influence on the SDGs. The importance of economic and social upgrading was emphasized by reviewing the experiences in Asia and Africa. Raising productivity is crucial for both types of upgrading.

Video (You Tube) and presentation are available from here.

 APO website

Presentation

• The GRIPS Development Forum (GDF) conducts pragmatic and policy-oriented research in such areas as industrial development, international development and development cooperation, building on the development experiences of Japan and Asia, and widely disseminates the results.
• The ongoing activities of GDF include: 1) international development strategy and Japanese development cooperation policy, 2) Japan-Ethiopia industrial policy dialogue (jointly with JICA), and 3) building networks with industrial human resources familiar with Japanese monozukuri.
• For the details, please visit the website of GDF.

• At the request of late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the GRIPS Development Forum, jointly with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has been conducting bilateral industrial policy dialogue between Ethiopia and Japan since 2009. This policy dialogue takes place at three channels—Prime Minister, Minister & State Ministers, and practitioners’ level—by sharing concrete experience of selected East Asian countries for the use of Ethiopia’s industrial development strategy. Currently, the phase III industrial policy dialogue is underway (2017-22), building on the achievements made by the phase I (2009-11) and phase II (2012-16) activities.
• In the phase III，Japan-Ethiopia industrial policy dialogue aims to contribute to the effective implementation of the Second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP2: 2015/16-2019/20) and the formulation of next five-year development plan, by sharing Asian perspectives and providing the policy learning process with the Ethiopian authorities. Special emphasis is given to Quality, Productivity & Competitiveness (QPC)-related issues, where Japanese industrial cooperation has a comparative advantage.
• For the details, please visit the website below.

http://www.grips.ac.jp/forum-e/af-growth/support_ethiopia/support_ethiopia2_phase3.htm