ICC Asia-Pacific conference in Dhaka

ICC Sri Lanka, the local chapter of Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, will participate at the Asia Pacific Conference on Financing Inclusive and Sustainable Development to be held at the Inter-Continental Hotel, Dhaka, Bangladesh on 10-12 December. The conference is jointly organised by ICC Bangladesh and UNESCAP together with the Government of Bangladesh and ADB. The Chief Guest at the inaugural session will be Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina M.P. The Keynote Speech will be delivered by Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad. The Sri Lankan delegation will include Minister of Higher Education, Information and Communications and Technology Bandula Gunawardena, and Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister Ajith Nivard Cabral. The ICCSL delegation is led by ICCSL Chairman Dinesh Weerakkody. ICCSL Secretary Shanil Fernando is the Sri Lanka coordinator of the project.

The Asia-Pacific Conference on Financing inclusive and Sustainable Development will bring together policymakers, private business and financial sectors, MDBs, international organisations, civil society organisations and all other relevant stakeholders to discuss pressing issues on financing for inclusive and sustainable development. The dialogue will not only enhance sharing knowledge and best practices among the participants to facilitate SDG funding but also ignite the discussions on new policy and cooperation frameworks at the regional level to facilitate financial resource mobilisation to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Mobilising sufficient financing remains the major challenge to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the present and clear challenges in Asia and the Pacific, developing countries must mobilise more resources in financing the 2030 Agenda by increasing domestic resources, partnering with the private sector, and enhancing international development cooperation. In the region, ESCAP has estimated that financing SDG’s would require an additional investment of $1.5 trillion per year. For least developed countries (LDCs) in the region, the challenge is even bigger as it requires 16% of GDP to finance the SDGs. This clearly suggests that in addition to national efforts, the region needs to strengthen its regional cooperation to facilitate the achievement of the SDGs through adequate financial resource mobilisation among all countries in the region.