The United Nations (UN) top official in Asia and the Pacific opined that achievement of the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will depend greatly on scaling up public-private partnerships.
“The private sector knows the art of making markets work, managing risks, and fostering competitiveness and innovation,” said UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP Dr Shamshad Akhtar at the twelfth Asia-Pacific Business Forum (APBF) held in the Thai capital Bangkok, according to a press release received here on Thursday.
She emphasized that Asian businesses have shown their ability to create enduring value for themselves, whilst overcoming adversity in both trying economic times, and with challenging external environments.
“As we move from the design to the implementation phase of the SDGs, businesses must align their thinking and integrate inclusivity and sustainability into their core values.
Through this process, they can drive long-term value creation for their shareholders and stakeholders by developing business models, systems, processes and production chains that manage the economic, social and environmental dimensions in a balanced manner,” added the executive secretary of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
The forum, Organized by ESCAP with the theme “Driving Growth and Sustainability through Business” on November 1-2 brought together over 300 business leaders and government policymakers.
In addition, representatives from civil society and international aid and development agencies also took part to identify the opportunities for enhancing connectivity between regional businesses in a more sustainable manner.
A new book launched at the forum by the ESCAP Sustainable Business Network “Resilient Business for Resilient Nations and Communities” highlighted best practices in strengthening business disaster risk resilience and management.
The forum also featured sessions on the new regional economic and financial order, along with harnessing entrepreneurship, technology and innovation for sustainable development.
APBF 2015 was organized with support from a wide group of partners and stakeholders with the mission of providing an effective platform for regional public-private sector dialogue on the role and needs of business in achieving inclusive, resilient and sustainable development.
APBF was first launched in 2004 in Shanghai and over the last decade has evolved as a meaningful regional multi-stakeholder network with a focus on business issues. Previous meetings were held in Almaty, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Kunming and Colombo.
