BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT PARLEY TO DEFINE MUTUAL INTERESTS IN ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS
Press Release
ESCAP/247
BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT PARLEY TO DEFINE MUTUAL INTERESTS IN ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS
19951124 BANGKOK 23 November (UN Information Service) -- Top government officials, senior managers and international business leaders gathered here today at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Private Sector Symposium, entitled "Sustainable Development Asia-Pacific Forum 1995" to exchange views on opportunities for and obstacles to promoting sustainable development in the region.The first of its kind, the Private Sector Symposium is being convened as part of the 1995 Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific, to focus on ways of integrating environmental concerns into the economic development plans accelerating in the region.
In his keynote address to the meeting, Samak Sundaravej, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, emphasized the need to translate the principle of sustainable development into effective incentives and procedures for economic development.
Most parties recognize that the region's prosperity has come at a cost, but industrial investment in pollution control in the region is less than 5 per cent, spent mostly on end-of-pipe control and waste clean-up, not prevention. The meeting provides an opportunity for the public and private sector to cooperate, to exchange views on the incentives for and obstacles to environmentally sound policies and business practices, and to discuss how to work together to create a sustainable model for the Asian and Pacific region. The meeting also aims to create an Asian business network to develop an environmental code for companies in the region.
The potential contribution of the private sector to the sustainable development of the Asia-Pacific region was unlimited, said Adrianus Mooy, Executive Secretary of ESCAP, in his opening statement to the meeting. He observed that it was in the interest of business to preserve the natural resource base in the long term, as well as the range of development opportunities offered by diversified and resilient natural systems.
- 2 - Press Release ESCAP/247 24 November 1995
The Asian market for environmental technology is about $80 billion annually, and is expected to grow to $120 billion by the year 2000. The Private Sector Symposium offers a chance for governments to consider the feasibility of regulations and the public value of new commodities and production methods. For their part, private firms can appraise the possible commercial rewards of being socially responsible.
Representatives of more than 50 leading Asian companies representing financial, legal, manufacturing and environmental industries are participating in the Symposium.
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