On 23 September 2021 the Greater Tumen Initiative (GTI) Policy Dialogue on Industrial Parks was held online between the four GTI member countries China, Mongolia, Republic of Korea (RoK) and the Russian Federation. The main theme of the dialogue was “Strengthen Cooperation on Industrial and Supply Chains in Northeast Asia”. The Policy Dialogue was proposed by the Ministry of Commerce of China and organised by Jilin Provincial Government of China, the GTI Secretariat, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
The Dialogue brought together officials from respective line ministries and local governments form the GTI member countries, operators of industrial parks, experts from academia and representatives from international organisations or private sector associations like UNESCAP, UNCTAD, GIZ or VDI/VDE-IT.
Inputs and discussions evolved around three sessions on 1) maintaining the momentum of regional economic integration to seize development opportunities of Northeast Asia’s industrial chains, 2) deepen industrial park cooperation in Northeast Asia and enhance regional supply chain connectivity as well as 3) sharing experiences in the development of industrial parks and special economic zones and promote innovative development led by industrial parks. Officials, park management representatives, and experts highlighted the positive impacts industrial parks had during the Covid-19 pandemic. They are main drivers of economic recovery and digitalisation but at the same time have to focus also more on ecological and inclusive development. To connect small businesses to regional supply chains and strengthen cross-border connectivity, park management has a prominent position. It needs to provide park tenants with the best possible infrastructure and training options to engage in innovative development, digitalisation and efficient supply chain coordination in the region.
The event was already the fourth dialogue on industrial policy topics between GTI, Jilin Provincial Government and GIZ. The GTI Secretariat together with the GIZ SRECA Project issued a policy brief on the Dialogue, containing summaries and recommendations to policy makers. It will be utilised for further activities and GTI implementation on that topic in the future.