EU and ASEAN participants came together on 22-23 March 2021 for a conference and comprehensive series of workshops on green technologies as part of ‘EU Industry Days,’ Europe’s flagship annual event on industry.
The two-day event, entitled ‘Cooperating with Europe for Green Manufacturing Technologies’, provided a platform for dialogues between green technology developers from Europe, Viet Nam and other ASEAN Member States in order to stimulate cooperation. Representatives from the European Commission, regional politicians and ministry representatives, ASEAN Secretariat and manufacturing practitioners, among others, were well-represented as both speakers and workshop leads.
The event was supported by the Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI), an EU-funded programme that facilitates dialogues between the EU and ASEAN in priority policy areas of joint interest, one of which is the EU-ASEAN Dialogue on Green Technology & Innovation Mapping (GreenTech).
The conference and workshops aim to raise awareness and to promote EU-ASEAN green technology transfer among both European and ASEAN actors to create interest and joint commitment among stakeholders in the pilot sectors. This event kicks off Pilot 2, ‘Sustainable Manufacturing’, which also includes subsequent webinars.
The meetings started with four hands-on practitioner workshops on 22 March, where participants saw technology at work in examples presented by practitioners from industry, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and research, and where they had the opportunity to discuss and network with peers about the ins and outs of green technology innovation.
The main conference event the next day was opened by Pierrick Fillon-Ashida, European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) with an introduction to EU-ASEAN research cooperation. The second half of the event was a dive into strategies for Green Growth, best practice examples of successful green innovators and state-of-the-art green technologies, and complementary discourses on the Green Deal, Europe’s new strategy for Green Growth. This included challenges and opportunities of such strategies. Productive discussions and round tables followed and were also built upon the previous days’ workshops conclusions and information.
The varied representation of topics and experts in sustainable manufacturing will spark many opportunities to innovate beyond borders in business and policymaking green technology-based cooperation. Identifying and initiating fields of cooperation is a key conclusion from the day. The groundwork laid in this two-day event also prepared stakeholders for follow-up webinars.
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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967. The ASEAN Member States are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. On 31 December 2015, the ASEAN Community was formally established. The ASEAN Secretariat is based in Jakarta.
The European Union (EU) is the economic and political union of 27 Member States. Together, the European Union has built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development while maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedom. In 2012, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the goals of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. The European Union is the world’s largest trading bloc, and the world’s largest source and destination of foreign direct investment. Collectively, the European Union and its member countries are the largest donors of Official Development Assistance (ODA), providing more than half of ODA globally.
The 27 Member States of the European Union (in alphabetical order) are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
The Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI) is a development cooperation programme that facilitates cooperation and dialogue between the EU and ASEAN in policy areas of joint interest. Drawing on the EU’s experience of regional integration, the E-READI policy dialogue facility further strengthens both the ASEAN regional integration process as well as the overall ASEAN-EU strategic partnership.
Source: EU and ASEAN collaborate on green manufacturing technologies at EU Industry Week event