Asia-Pacific confce on SDG financing begins Tuesday

The International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICCB) is organising a three-day conference on financing for inclusive and sustainable development beginning in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The "Asia-Pacific Conference on Financing for Inclusive and Sustainable Development" is being organised in partnership with the ESCAP, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Bangladesh.

The conference will focus on enhancing investment and international development cooperation for financing the 2030 agenda for sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the Asia Pacific region.

ICCB President Mahbubur Rahman came up with the announcement at a press briefing on Saturday at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) auditorium in the city.

"Achieving 17 goals by 2030 is a tough job; only the Asia Pacific region will require US$1.5 trillion annually for achieving the same," he said.

"We will discuss, mainly, how to finance SDG aspirations for the Asia Pacific region in this three-day conference," he added.

He also said funding SDG projects remain a challenge not only in Asia or Pacific region but also elsewhere in the world.

"We will, however, discuss about the Asia Pacific region," he mentioned.

The ICCB president said though the primary responsibility of implementing the SDGs lies with the government, "neither the government alone can achieve SDGs nor the private sector can do it," he said.

"It is impossible to achieve SDGs without public and private partnership, we are extending our hand to the government in this regard," Mr Mahbubur Rahman said.

President Abdul Hamid will attend the inaugural session of the conference as the chief guest.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, private industry and investment adviser to Prime Minister Salman F Rahman will also be present at the inaugural session.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and former Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will join the inaugural session of the conference through video conferencing.

About 100 international dignitaries from 30 countries and 400 delegates from Bangladesh will attend the conference.

Among other guests, Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of UN ESCAP Dr. Armida Salsia Alisjahbana, Minister of Information and Communications Technology and Innovations of Sri Lanka Bandula Gunawardena, Senior Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and Former Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Nivard Cabraal, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Planning and Infrastructure of the Maldives Riyaz Mansoor, Vice Chairman of National Planning Commission of Nepal Professor Dr. Puspa Raj Kadel, Under Secretary of State (Vice Minister) of Ministry of Industry and Handicraft of Cambodia Laim Kimleng, and Vice Minister of Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia Bun Chanthy will also join the conference.

Principal Secretary Nojibur Rahman, Former Chief Coordinator for SDG Affairs of Prime Minister's Office Md Abul Kalam Azad, ERD Secretary Monowar Ahmed, Senior Secretary of Financial Institutions Division Md. Ashadul Islam, Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Manmohan Parkash, and former caretaker government advisor AB Mirza Azizul Islam, among others, will attend different sessions of the conference.

There will be 10 sessions in three days on different issues related to SDGs. They include: "Inclusive Financing for SDGs in Asia-Pacific", "ICC's Role in Responding to Emerging Global Challenges for Sustainable Growth", "Scaling up Climate Finance: The Urgencies to Increase Public and Private Sources for Climate-resilient Development", "Inclusive and Sustainable Finance and the Risks and Opportunities for the Banking Sector", "Innovative Finance to Achieve Inclusive and Sustainable Business and Investment; Capital Market Development, Blended Finance and FinTech", "Leveraging Private Investment; Innovative Financing for Infrastructure Development through New PPP Modalities", "Building Financial Inclusivity: MSMEs' Access to Finance through Technology and Innovation", and "Financial Implications for SDGs in the Context of LDCs' Graduation".

According to a media note of the organiser, objectives of the conference are: exploring new and innovative policy and regulatory options to enhance domestic and external resources to finance SDG projects; financing infrastructure development in a context of efficient governance, breakneck urbanisation and public-private partnership (PPP).

The conference will also explore the way of private financing enhancement through developing robust business models with environmental, social and economic impact assessment; awareness raising on climate finance for climate change mitigation and adaptation; capital market development to close financing gaps through sovereign/corporate green/blue bonds, infrastructure funds and blended finance instruments, the media note said.

The conference sessions will also discuss financing for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); supply chain financing to enable LDCs' participation in international trade and investment; and scaling up effort for international development cooperation through official development assistance (ODA) and south-south cooperation.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the world business organisation, is celebrating its centenary this year. The ICCB is also observing 25 years of its inception.

DCCI President Osama Taseer, senior journalist Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul and ICCB Secretary General Ataur Rahman were also present at the press conference.

The ICC has its physical presence in more than 100 countries. It represents 45 million companies and more than 1.0 billion (100 crore) workers worldwide.

One in every three workers depends on ICC members for their livelihood. The ICC was founded in 1919 in the aftermath of the First World War when no world system of rules governed trade, investment, finance or commercial relations.

ICC aims to promote international trade and investment as vehicles for inclusive growth and prosperity. ICC is the largest and only private sector/non-sovereign organisation, which was granted the status of permanent observer in the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 2016.

The ICCB founded in 1994 comprises trade organisations, national and trans-national corporations, banks and financial institutions that represent almost 80 per cent of Bangladesh's economy. The ICCB closely works for promotion of foreign trade and investment, trade policy review through business dialogues, seminars and workshops on related policy issues, harmonisation of trade law and rules, legal reforms, etc.

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