UNIDO ITPO Shanghai was invited to attend the symposium on "Attracting International Organizations to Settle in Shanghai"

The presence of international organizations is an important indicator of a city's international competitiveness. Shanghai is a highland of reform and opening up, and is actively benchmarking global excellence through the construction of four functions. So far, there is still a significant gap between the level of international organizations in Shanghai and other international metropolises, which has become a weakness in the international development of Shanghai.

In response to the above issues, on February 28th, the Shanghai Institute of International Studies held a symposium on "Attracting International Organizations to Settle in Shanghai". ZHAO Xiaolei, Head of UNIDO  ITPO Shanghai, was invited to attend and give a keynote speech.

At the symposium, ZHAO Xiaolei gave a wonderful sharing entitled "Attracting UN Agencies to Settle down and Help Shanghai Open to a Higher Level". Zhao Xiaolei said that the distribution of directly affiliated agencies of the United Nations in China mainly has two characteristics: first, most directly affiliated agencies are located in the capital Beijing; Second, in areas outside Beijing, mainly project offices and secondary institutions. In terms of attracting United Nations agencies to settle down, Shanghai still has shortcomings in terms of talent, resources, and policies. To promote the settlement of UN agencies in Shanghai, it is necessary to first arrange and organize them, and at the same time, create new UN agencies that focus on emerging industries. Secondly, there is a need to establish regulations and systems to support the legal environment, supporting policies, tax standards, management systems, and other issues in the settlement. Finally, based on the theme of this seminar, Zhao Xiaolei shared the cases of three European cities attracting United Nations agencies to settle down, with a view to jointly seeking a more complete settlement policy for international organizations that is in line with China's national conditions, which caused a heated discussion among the delegates present.

In addition to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the seminar also invited representatives from multiple international organizations such as UNESCO, the World Meteorological Organization, the Global Energy Forum, the French International Chamber of Commerce, as well as heads of institutions such as the Shanghai World City Day Coordination Center, the Shanghai Magnolia International Friendship Exchange Foundation, to focus on the current development trend of international organizations and the trend of interaction between international organizations and the construction of international metropolises, Focusing on issues such as the role, needs, and attraction paths of international organizations in Shanghai, we will provide insights to better attract international organizations to settle down and enhance Shanghai's core competitiveness.