UNIDO Launches Vision 2050 and Industrial Development Report 2026, Outlining a Global Blueprint for Future Industrialization

Riyadh, 26 November 2025 — The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has unveiled a sweeping new agenda for global industrialization with the launch of Vision 2050: The Future of Industries for Development and the Industrial Development Report 2026 (IDR26). The announcement, made during the 21st Session of the UNIDO General Conference and the Global Industry Summit 2025, signals a decisive shift toward more inclusive, sustainable, and technology-driven industrial development.

The high-level session, titled “Preparing for the Future of Industrialization,” brought together ministers, development partners, private-sector leaders and top economists, marking one of the most significant global gatherings on industrial policy this year.

UNIDO’s Vision 2050 positions industrialization as a central mechanism for achieving prosperity, climate stability, and social inclusion in a world undergoing rapid technological and demographic transformation.

Calling for a global “New Industrial Deal,” UNIDO Deputy to the Director General Cecilia Ugaz Estrada stated:
“Our Vision is to build a fair global economy where industries create decent jobs, eradicate poverty and hunger, foster innovation, and protect people and the planet.”

Vision 2050 is anchored in four guiding principles:

• Inclusion
  
• Sustainability
  
• Resilience
  
• Innovation-driven development
  

It presents a sweeping menu of policy pathways for developing economies, including industrial policy support, technology transfer, industrial skills development, quality infrastructure, and clean-energy strategies. The framework draws on three major foresight studies covering digital transformation, future global value chains, and clean energy and climate action.

Industrial Development Report 2026: Data for Decision-Making

The accompanying Industrial Development Report 2026 offers fresh empirical evidence on global industrial performance and outlines the megatrends shaping the next generation of production systems.

Key insights from IDR26 include:

• Many developing regions remain marginalized in global manufacturing, despite the centrality of industrialization to the 2030 Agenda.
  
• Coordinated investments in infrastructure, skills, clean energy, and technology transfer are essential to build “future-ready” industrial ecosystems.
  
• Scenario-based modelling shows that expanding agro-industrialization, advancing clean energy transitions, and strengthening fair global value chains can lift millions out of poverty while reducing emissions.
  
• Opportunities are growing in clean-tech manufacturing, critical minerals, AI-driven innovation, and the emerging bioeconomy, opening strategic avenues for developing nations.
  

The report warns that without deliberate and inclusive policy action, current shifts in technology and trade may widen inequalities rather than narrow them.

A Call for Coordinated Global Action

Speakers at the launch highlighted that achieving UNIDO’s Vision 2050 goals requires unprecedented cooperation among governments, finance institutions, development agencies and the private sector. A recurring theme was the need to ensure that green and digital transitions do not exacerbate existing disparities within and between countries.

UNIDO reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Member States through targeted programmes in:

• industrial and innovation policy design,
  
• digital manufacturing and AI adoption,
  
• quality infrastructure and standards,
  
• sustainable value chain development,
  
• skills and capacity-building,
  
• and partnerships with regional and global financial institutions.
  

These partnerships, UNIDO stressed, will be critical in mobilizing long-term capital for climate-resilient and digitally enabled industrial systems.

A Milestone for Global Industrial Development

The launch of Vision 2050 and IDR26 marks a major step in shaping the next quarter century of global industrialization. By combining a long-term strategic outlook with a robust empirical evidence base, UNIDO provides governments and industries with a roadmap to navigate uncertainty and harness emerging opportunities.

UNIDO’s message is unequivocal: with coordinated action, inclusive policies and sustained investment, a more sustainable and equitable industrial future is within reach.