Speech by
Hubert Mandery
Director General, Cefic
3rd EuCheMS Chemistry Congress 2010
Nürnberg, Germany
August 29, 2010
Dear Prof. Natile, dear Prof. Dröscher, Dear Prof. Jung Il-Jun, …ladies and gentlemen,
It is my privilege to join the illustrious queue of welcome speakers for this prestigious event – the 3rd EuCheMS Chemistry Congress 2010 here in Nürnberg. The European chemical industry and Cefic - the European Chemical Industry Council - have a selfish interest in this congress being an enormous success.
But why? Put simply, because excellence and progress in science translate into inventions, which – with the right ingredients – are developed into innovations that create jobs – hopefully jobs in Europe – and innovations that benefit society.
Today, the European Chemical Industry is still a world leader:
- representing about a quarter of the world’s chemicals production,
- employing more than 1.2 million people,
- generating €450 billion of revenues, and
creating a trade surplus of €43 billion in 2009.
Having said that, however, we are today loosing share in a fast-growing, global market. Today, Europe’s competitive position is clearly at risk! For example, countries in the Middle East attract very high investments in petrochemicals, notably due to their feedstock advantages. China and India have made successful efforts to build up large and sophisticated production facilities and capable R&D centres. There are many factors affecting European industry’s competitiveness: high labour costs, feedstock costs and regulatory costs – such as REACH and ETS :
- a risk-averse culture,
- the risk of a shortage of qualified labour,
- the lack of an integrated European industrial policy aiming at a strong industrial base in Europe,
- a level playing field for sourcing energy and feedstock,
- open world markets with fair competition…and the list goes on.
The most important factor in this context, however, is and will be our ability to innovate! More innovations and research are the keys to securing the future of the European chemical industry! And more innovations and new solutions are needed to address the top challenges for humanity.
The world population, projected to reach more than nine billion people by 2050, places extremely high pressure on available resources. The need for clean water, better food, and progress in health care are the top challenges. The way we produce and use energy will have to fundamentally change. And we have to change the way we do business. These societal needs and challenges do shape the priorities for research and development in the field of chemistry.
More growth with less resource consumption will only be achievable with progress in chemistry – the central science of the 21st century. More growth with less resource consumption in Europe will only be achievable with an innovative, sustainable chemical industry. Europe has a first class research landscape…Europe has sophisticated markets…And Europe still has a world-class chemical industry.
So let us build on these strengths:
Let’s speed up the process from R&D to innovations.
Let‘s bridge the gap between academia and industry across national borders within Europe.
And let‘s work together in a complementary way – academia and industry – to ensure a strong public support for new technologies, which are essential for sustainable development.
So how are we going to work together? Most importantly, EuCheMS and Cefic have agreed to identify areas for joint cooperation. The most notable area is to set as the top priority greater outreach:
- to increase the public appreciation and understanding of chemistry,
- to increase young people’s interest in science, and
- to generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry.
The timing could not have come at a better time. Next year, in 2011, the U.N. International Year of Chemistry offers a timely opportunity to make our voices heard and to illustrate the significance of chemistry in Europe and across the world.
Cefic and all of CEFIC’s members are committed, alongside the academic community, to supporting hundreds of events throughout Europe. Another area of long-term cooperation between EuCheMs and Cefic is in framing future research areas like the European Union’s 8th Research Framework Programme.
And what about a visionary project? A project that grabs the attention and the imagination of the public? Like the human genome project for biology?
So what is our grand project for chemistry? I am sure some of the research areas presented during this Congress could qualify. So, in closing, let me just reiterate that when academia and industry work closer together, we can achieve brilliant things. Let me also say that framing the future of research in Europe and winning the hearts of coming generations are noble goals. They are also realistic goals, and achievable goals.
We look forward to close, long-term cooperation with EuCheMS. And for the next few days, we look forward to an outstanding congress.
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