Productive capacities, a concept developed by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), refer to the productive resources, entrepreneurial capabilities, and production linkages that enable countries to produce increasingly sophisticated and value-added goods and services. Strengthening productive capacities is central to structural transformation, inclusive growth, economic resilience, and sustainable development.
To support systematic measurement and evidence-based policymaking, UNCTAD developed the Productive Capacities Index (PCI), a multidimensional index that measures countries’ productive capacities across eight categories: Natural Capital, Human Capital, Transport, Energy, ICT, Institutions, Private Sector, and Structural Change. The PCI provides country-specific diagnostics and benchmarking tools to help identify gaps, monitor progress, and inform national and regional development strategies.
The PCI continues to evolve through UNCTAD’s research, technical assistance, and advisory mechanisms, including the High-level Advisory Board (HLAB) and the Statistical and Technical Advisory Group (STAG). Ongoing work focuses on refining the methodology, improving data quality, incorporating emerging dimensions such as environment, gender equality, and finance, and supporting member States in developing context-specific applications of the PCI.
This conference aims to advance academic and policy discussions on the measurement, application, and further development of the PCI, with a focus on evidence-based policymaking, structural transformation, sustainability, inclusion, and resilience.
Objectives of the Academic Conference:
The main objectives of the conference are to:
- Enhance/expand perspectives on the choice of PCI indicators and capture additional new dimensions as proposed by the High-level Advisory Board (HLAB) and the Statistical and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) on the Index.
- Highlight innovative solutions to address data gaps and measurement challenges related to productive capacities, and to strengthen the statistical capacities of countries and relevant institutions in this field.
- Exchange views on the latest statistical methodologies of the PCI, drawing lessons from other composite indices, and discuss suitable programming languages and approaches, including how to best tap opportunities created by artificial intelligence (AI).
- Explore thematic issues and applications of the PCI in regional development, as well as in understanding underlying trends in production and productivity, including gender and environmental dimensions.
- Enhance understanding of the role of productive capacities in driving structural transformation, economic diversification, inclusive growth and resilience.
- Promote the use of the PCI in academic research and higher education, including its integration into teaching and research agendas.
