UAE Launches Fourth Industrial Revolution Protocol

 A side of the Global Future Councils sessions that concluded on Sunday in Dubai. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.
A side of the Global Future Councils sessions that concluded on Sunday in Dubai. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.
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UAE Launches Fourth Industrial Revolution Protocol

 A side of the Global Future Councils sessions that concluded on Sunday in Dubai. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.
A side of the Global Future Councils sessions that concluded on Sunday in Dubai. Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic.

In partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Emirate government launched Sunday the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Protocol.

During the second Annual Meeting of the Global Future Councils (AMGFC) in Dubai, the 4IR protocol was launched and it is an initiative that sets a regulatory framework for the tools and technologies already driving the next wave of human progress.

It encompasses three primary pillars: providing an integrated and secure data environment; formulating policies and legislation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and building a unified system of values and ethics to guide 4IR technologies.

Mohammad Abdullah al-Gergawi, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future and Co-chair of the Global Future Councils, said that the Fourth Industrial Revolution Protocol not only consolidates the UAE government’s efforts to adopt 4IR tools and technologies, but demonstrates its commitment to addressing the moral and ethical concerns surrounding them.

Gergawi added: “The Fourth Industrial Revolution’s unprecedented technological capabilities require us to change the mechanisms that govern the work of vital sectors.”

The launching of the Fourth Industrial Revolution represents an initiative from the UAE, that presents perceptions for the vital sectors’ future and puts a framework for the regulating legislatives and policies in a way that contributes in empowering governments to provide better services for the community.

The Protocol will establish a massive integrated data environment to simulate the Fourth Industrial Revolution, permitting experts to meet its challenges via extensive data sharing and artificial intelligence.

It will also work to ensure privacy for the community, contribute to human happiness by instilling values and ethics into technological advances and address the inherent challenges new technologies bring to identify and combat possible negative effects on humankind.



China's Industrial Profits Narrow Decline but 2024 Likely Worst Year in Decades

An employee works at a carbon fibre production line inside a factory in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China October 27, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer
An employee works at a carbon fibre production line inside a factory in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China October 27, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer
TT

China's Industrial Profits Narrow Decline but 2024 Likely Worst Year in Decades

An employee works at a carbon fibre production line inside a factory in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China October 27, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer
An employee works at a carbon fibre production line inside a factory in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China October 27, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

China's industrial profits fell at a slower clip in November, official data showed on Friday, but the annual decline in earnings this year is expected to be the worst in over two decades due to persistently soft domestic consumption.

The world's second-largest economy has been struggling to mount a strong post-pandemic revival, as business and household appetites for spending and investment remain subdued amid a prolonged housing downturn and fresh trade risks from the incoming US administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Industrial profits fell 7.3% in November from the same month last year, following a 10% drop in October, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed, Reuters reported.

The narrower decline in November pointed to improved profits as recent economic stimulus measures start to have an effect, said Zhou Maohua, a macroeconomic researcher at China Everbright Bank.

The profit numbers were also in line with a slower decline in factory-gate prices in November. The producer price index fell 2.5% year-on-year versus the 2.9% drop in October.

The World Bank on Thursday revised up its 2024 economic growth forecast for China slightly to 4.9% from its June forecast of 4.8%.

Still, in the first 11 months of 2024, industrial profits declined 4.7%, deepening a 4.3% slide in the January-October period, reflecting still tepid private demand in the Chinese economy.

China's full-year industrial profits are set to show their biggest drop in percentage terms since 2011. However, when smaller companies are included under a previous compilation methodology, this year's profit decline is expected to the worst since at least 2000.

A spate of economic indicators released this month pointed to mixed results, with industrial output accelerating in November while new home prices fell at the slowest pace in 17 months.

The industrial sector is undergoing an uneven recovery amid insufficient demand, Zhou said, pointing to difficulties facing real estate and some related industries as evidence of this malaise.

China's leaders vowed in a key policy meeting this month to raise the deficit, issue more debt and loosen monetary policy to maintain a stable economic growth rate. The government also recently pledged to step up direct fiscal support to consumers and boosting social security.

Beijing has agreed to issue a record $411 billion special treasury bonds next year, Reuters reported.

Profits at state-owned firms fell 8.4% in the first 11 months, foreign firms posted a 0.8% decline and private-sector companies recorded a 1% fall, according to a breakdown of the NBS data.

Industrial profit numbers cover firms with annual revenues of at least 20 million yuan ($2.7 million) from their main operations.