Ms. Inaya Ezzeddine, Minister of State for Administrative Reforms of Lebanon,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to the United Nations House to participate in the Regional Forum on National Knowledge and Technology Development and Transfer Systems in the Arab Region. This meeting was organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), in collaboration and partnership with national institutions that support scientific research.
I would like to thank the Minister of State for Administrative Reforms of Lebanon for her assistance in implementing the project in Lebanon, and for her participation in the Forum’s work. Commitment at this level indicates confidence in the role of technology in achieving sustainable development, and highlights our region’s need for legislative and administrative reform to establish and operationalize a productive system of science, technology and innovation.

The Forum aims to discuss ways of strengthening technology development and transfer systems, and enhancing links between research and academic institutions, on the one hand, and industrial and productive sectors, on the other.

Ladies and gentlemen,
The knowledge economy is increasingly important in our region, at a time of major challenges threatening hard-earned development gains.
We are called upon, countries and regional and international partners, to tirelessly work to benefit from the technology revolution at the individual and societal levels, to ensure decent employment opportunities and livelihoods. This requires the adoption and implementation of policies, laws and legislation that facilitate reaping the fruits of scientific and technological knowledge, research findings and green technology transfer, and nationalizing what we deem appropriate to promote vital sectors (water, energy and food) and adapt to climate change.

In the era of globalization, it is crucial to focus on economic sectors producing digital technology as a key pillar of macroeconomics. They are a source of new job opportunities for all social groups, especially young people whose unemployment rate in the Arab region is double that of youth unemployment globally, thus posing a threat to the future of development.
Developed countries have invested the outputs of scientific research and technological development in industrial and productive sectors, resulting in increased productivity and competitiveness and greater employment opportunities. Harnessing technology is vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries, including Arab countries. Many developing countries recognize the important role of research, development and innovation. Consequently, they have created an attractive investment environment and developed policies to shift towards the knowledge economy, resulting in economic growth and social prosperity.

To bridge the gap between the academic sector and the productive, industrial and services sectors, ESCWA launched a regional project in 2015 to establish national offices and networks for technology development and transfer in Arab countries.

The project’s main results include establishing a technology development and transfer unit, appointing focal points in government and private universities, ministries and institutions in some countries, strengthening support for innovation and intellectual property in technology transfer and marketing offices in other countries, enacting new laws and systems or amending existing ones, and training focal points to manage and administer technology transfer offices in universities and assess the impact of marketing research.
ESCWA hopes that this Forum will provide an opportunity for discussion between participating countries, and a platform for establishing an Arab technology transfer and development network to facilitate the exchange of expertise and success stories and to achieve productive integration for all parties. I hope that our dialogue and coordination efforts will lead to practical steps in promising sectors in Arab countries, such as green technology and strengthening the role of emerging innovative enterprises.

I wish this Forum every success in its discussions on technology and innovation and their employment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. We look forward to working together over the coming years to intensify efforts in the service of our countries to meet our people’s aspirations.

Thank you.