OTHER SESSIONS

     The ministerial round table was chaired by H.E. Mr. Kim Jong-hoon, Minister for Trade of the Republic of Korea, and moderated by Ms. Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Secretary of ESCAP. H.E. Mr. Anote Tong, the President of Kiribati, made a key note address, followed by a distinguished panel comprising of the following:

H.E. Dr (Ms). Armida S. Alisjahbana, State Minister of National Development Planning, Indonesia; H.E. Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Assistant Foreign Minister, China; H.E. Mr. Bakhyat Sultanov, Economic Adviser to the President and former Minister of Economy and Budget Planning, Kazakhstan; H.E. Mr. Abdula Shahid, State Minister of Housing, Transport and Environment, Maldives.

     In her introductory remarks, Ms. Heyzer reaffirmed the key messages of the theme study Financing an Inclusive and Green Future. In his keynote speech, H.E. Mr. Tong noted the challenges that Pacific island Countries face in achieving the MDGs. Besides other challenges arising from the food-fuel and financial crisis, many of these countries – especially low-lying island states, whose long-term survival is at stake – are significantly more vulnerable to climate change. Given the importance of articulating a collective response, H.E. Mr. Tong called for the resolution of differences across countries through dialogue and for forging a regional consensus on how to address climate change.

     H.E. Ms. Alisjahbana highlighted the importance of infrastructure for development and called for the promotion of innovative financial solutions, such as public-private partnerships and development of regional financial architecture for the mobilization of resources to invest in infrastructure. H.E. Mr. Zhenmin called for improving the functioning of the international financial system in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. H.E. Mr. Sultanov described the implementation of the green growth policy approach in Kazakhstan. H.E. Mr. Shahid observed that progress to achieve the Millennium Development Goals is impeded in many countries due to the lack of adequate financial resources, technical know-how and human resources capacity.