Multi-year Expert Meeting on Investment, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Productive Capacity-building and Sustainable Development, second session

Innovation for productive capacity-building and sustainable development: Policy frameworks, instruments and key capabilities

Experts will discuss how developing countries can establish innovation policies adapted to their specific needs and environment.

Particular attention will be paid to the capabilities that developing countries can concentrate on as a priority for better innovation performance at the firm and at the economy-wide levels, and to the role that regional and interregional cooperation can play in the development of capabilities relating to science, technology and innovation (STI).

The meeting will also address the experience of developing countries with various innovation policy instruments (for example, innovation funding, fiscal incentives, technology parks and incubators, public–private partnerships and business–academia collaboration), and the linkages that should be developed with other policy areas. In this context, the role of global value chains in making STI capacity an instrument for supporting national development, helping local industry become more competitive, and for developing export diversification efforts of developing countries (Doha Mandate, paragraph 56(p)) will also be examined.

Experts will be requested to elaborate on and add to the key issue areas as identified above, bringing particular attention to the perspectives of developing countries during the debate. Experts may also wish to shed light on other areas of concern and future considerations with respect to the topic of innovation for productive capacity-building and sustainable development.

To facilitate the discussions, the UNCTAD secretariat has prepared an issues note entitled “Science, technology and innovation capability gaps, policy environment, and evolving policy tools for sustainable development”.

The issues note addresses the role of STI capabilities, policy environment and the current trends in policy tools to strengthen the technological and innovation capacity of developing countries. In particular, the issues note highlights the importance of an enabling environment for innovation in developing countries, presents the main capability gaps identified in these countries, and describes some features of the policy environment in which developing countries need to address their STI challenges.

Contributed papers

Experts are encouraged to prepare brief papers on the subject under discussion. These papers will be made available at the meeting in the form and language in which they are received.