In July, the United States and a dozen other countries gathered to discuss supply chain disruptions and collaborate to build resiliency.
In the two days of the 2022 Supply Chain Ministerial forum, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo hosted partner governments and stakeholders in an international virtual event that built on the Leaders’ Summit on Global Supply Chain Resilience hosted by President Joe Biden in Rome, Italy, in October 2021.
Edith Cowan University’s global logistics and supply chain expert Associate Professor Flavio Macau was invited to facilitate the session on Enabling and Investment Environments for Diversifying Supply Chains, along with US academics Associate Professor Chad Bown and Associate Professor Sarah Danzman.
The conversation started with the Mayor of Detroit Mike Duggan and involved 25 stakeholders from industry, unions and civil society, with representatives from minority and underserved communities.
A summary of conclusions was presented in the next day for the state ministers, who added the perspective of their countries.
More than 100 observers attended the session, and about 600 representatives attended the Ministerial Plenary.
“Shocks to global supply chains stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic have spotlighted the urgent need to strengthen supply chain resiliency,” Professor Macau said.
“This is a global challenge we intend to approach resolutely and cooperatively.
“The intention of the Forum is to work together on crisis response and to alleviate near-term transportation, logistics, and supply chain disruptions and bottlenecks that make our supply chains vulnerable and cause spillover effects for consumers, businesses, workers, and families.”
The event concluded with a joint statement highlighting the building of collective, long-term supply chain resiliency is critical to the global economy.
To achieve this, countries must aim to follow global supply chain principles on Transparency, Diversification, Security, and Sustainability.
Academic Rapporteurs from Stakeholder Breakout Sessions:
- Associate Professor Flavio Macau, Edith Cowan University (Australia)
- Professor Gary Gereffi, Duke University
- Professor Ari Van Assche, HEC Montreal (Canada)
- Professor Renee Bowen, University of California San Diego
- Associate Professor Chad P. Bown, Petersen Institute of Intl. Economics
- Associate Professor Sarah Danzman, Indiana University Bloomington
- Professor Anne Strauss-Wieder, Rutgers University
- Associate Professor Sam Roscoe, University of Sussex (UK)
- Professor Su-Han Woo, Chung-Ang University (South Korea)
- Professor Erica Fuchs, Carnegie Mellon University
- Larissa Flach, Professor of Economics (Germany)
- Professor Nobuko Nagase, Ochanomizu University (Japan)
