The New Era of Industrial Strategies

The report argues that industrial strategies have returned as vital tools for economic and national security, driven by geopolitical tensions and the climate crisis. It identifies five grand challenges: environmental sustainability, supply chain resilience, technology scale-up, workforce skills, and linking business value with social values. The document emphasizes that private sector efforts alone are insufficient and calls for coordinated public-private partnerships to manage the green and digital transitions, particularly to avoid exacerbating the divide between high-income and low-income countries.

• There is a significant disparity in the adoption of industrial policies between high-income and low-income nations; between 2009 and 2019, high-income countries implemented an average of 95 industrial policies, while low- to middle-income countries implemented only 18.
• Decarbonizing the industrial sector requires systemic collaboration because supply chain emissions are, on average, 11 times higher than a company's own operational emissions.
• To achieve environmental sustainability, the public sector is encouraged to use financial incentives, tax breaks, and the streamlining of permitting processes to reduce 'red tape' that inhibits green infrastructure development.
• Supply chain resilience is being pursued through strategies such as reshoring, nearshoring, and friendshoring, though the report notes a lack of evidence for a generalized change in localization decisions as cost considerations often still prevail over resilience.
• The public sector can enhance supply chain security by taking the lead in stockpiling critical emergency resources, such as vaccines and protective equipment, as the private sector is more sensitive to costs.
• Accelerating the adoption of industrial technologies requires the state to fund the 'valleys of death'—the middle stages of Technology Readiness Levels where private venture capital and traditional government investments are absent.
• Securing the future workforce requires a 'just transition' that focuses on people's needs rather than just jobs, including the implementation of safety nets for those displaced by automation.
• To attract talent to manufacturing, there is a need to reform outdated public perceptions of the sector by highlighting its role in innovation and the use of advanced technologies.
• Linking business value with social value involves increasing transparency and exploring alternative corporate governance models, such as social enterprises, cooperatives, or Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs).

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). The New Era of Industrial Strategies. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Era_of_Industrial_Strategies_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. The New Era of Industrial Strategies. 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Era_of_Industrial_Strategies_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=The New Era of Industrial Strategies |date=January 2024 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Era_of_Industrial_Strategies_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024new, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{The New Era of Industrial Strategies}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = jan, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Era_of_Industrial_Strategies_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }