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..Press
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UNESCAP News Services
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Date 21
September 2004
Press Release No: L/51/2004
United Nations Secretary-General stresses key role of
private sector in development, in message to World Industrial,
Commercial Summit in Beijing
Following is the United Nations Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's message to the summit of the World Industrial and
Commercial Organization, delivered in Beijing on 19 September
by Kim Hak-Su, Executive-Secretary, United Nations Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP):
It gives me great pleasure to send my greetings
to all the participants in this summit meeting of the World
Industrial and Commercial Organization.
The key role of business in creating wealth, jobs
and opportunity is widely recognized and understood. In their
spheres of influence, up and down their supply chains, in their
business-to-business contacts and relations with consumers,
the private sector has considerable influence and impact. One
of my priorities has been to engage this power more deeply in
our work to promote development and to ensure that globalization
can benefit all the world's people.
One major part of that effort is the Global Compact,
a voluntary corporate social responsibility initiative that
I launched in 1999. The Compact advances universal principles
in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption,
that are based on well-established international norms. The
Compact is action-oriented. Business leaders commit themselves
and their companies to make real changes in their day-to-day
business operations, and to engage in concrete projects, that
will give practical meaning to the 10 principles.
It is very encouraging that the Compact has been
embraced by hundreds of participants from all continents and
from within and beyond the business community. By working together,
these participants are seeking to create new opportunities for
the poor to improve their standards of living. They are also
trying to make investments that will increase our chances of
meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and to underpin the
global market with strong social and ethical foundations.
I very much hope that more Chinese business leaders
will embrace the Compact and align their practices with universal
principles. By building bridges with the world, you can do your
part to find solutions to the pressing challenges of our times.
I look forward to working with you towards that end, and wish
you all the best for a successful summit.
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