Keynote: The rise of poverty to the top of the corporate agenda as a key strategic challenge for business

The session will cover:

• Why the international development community is failing to lift the poor out of poverty.

• Why the role of the private sector in generating jobs and grassroots growth has been ignored as the path out of poverty.

•  Analysis of why poor countries will stay poor, regardless of how much aid and charity is dispensed, without an enterprise-friendly investment climate.

• Why the international development community has not created the conditions for millions of small enterprises to flourish and how business, in turn, knows an awful lot about running enterprises in difficult trading conditions.

•  Why business is not being asked to lend this knowledge and expertise to the development effort and how, instead, corporate social responsibility and external affairs experts fill the vacuum.

•  Why a new kind of development partnership is urgently required – one that sees business at the centre of efforts to create pro-poor employment.

•  How sustainable livelihoods, not handouts, will put an end to poverty.

Speaker:
Shell foundation, Kurt Hoffman, Director

Plenary Session: The challenges for business to define responsibilities in developing markets

• The emerging role of large corporations in the developing world.

• How to handle the growing expectation that business should contribute to community development.

• How far companies should go in addressing social issues.

• Whether there is a case for helping to make policy and enhance capacities and skills of the government and civil service in developing countries.

• How to avoid becoming a de facto government.

• How to consolidate competitive advantage from new market opportunities and sustainable sourcing in developing countries.

• Hear about the AEO 2005: Making Profits, Protecting our Planet: Corporate Responsibility for Environmental Performance in Asia and the Pacific.

• Identify the emerging trends regarding the economic development and environmental management landscape in Asia and the Pacific.

• How best to engage with the private sector to promote the region's sustainable development .

Speakers:
Anglo American, Edward Bickham, Executive Vice President, External Affairs
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Kathryn Gordon, Senior Economist, Investment Division
British Council, Mike Hardy, Director Indonesia

Asian Development Bank (ADB), Jeffrey Hiday, Director General, External Relations Department

Coffee Break

Accessing Finance

Using the major Asian markets of India , Indonesia and Laos as examples, this session will examine how microfinance can help stimulate economies.

There will be a critique of how Allianz have secured a leadership niche in this growing industry – while also creating a new market opportunity for themselves.

The session also will focus on:

•  How microfinance is a lucrative opportunity for the insurance industry.

•  Why microinsurance is such an effective tool to reduce poverty and avoid debt.

•  The potential for establishing local entrepreneurs and strengthening livelihoods.

•  The safety mechanisms for risk management – including natural hazards – which are required.

•  How microinsurance differs from other microfinance tools.

•  What scope there is for private public partnerships in microfinance.

•  How best to work with NGOs.

Speakers:

UNDP, Arun Kashyap, Public Private Partnerships Advisor

Allianz, Dr. Astrid Zwick, Sustainable Development Director

Moderator: The Partnering Initiative, Eva Halper

Accessing Markets

Part of the reason why the poor remain locked in poverty in many parts of the world is the absence of functioning markets.

Access to markets is key to providing opportunities for growth and self-empowerment. Thriving markets bring greater choice of products and services and more routes to participate in local economic activities.


The private sector is the engine that stimulates market growth through investment, innovation and value creation. Governments also have a role to play in creating the right framework and providing the right incentives for investment to flow into developing countries.


This session will look at how different stakeholders can work together to increase market access in the developing world.  

You'll also learn about The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) that is the executive agency of the Royal Government of Cambodia responsible for rehabilitation, development and investment activities.

Among the activities examined is CDC's role in guiding the preparation of a development vision and strategies in collaboration with relevant institutions.

Speakers:
Landmine Disability Support (LMDS), John Lowrie, Country Representative and Programme Director

World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Cécile Churet, Sustainable Livelihoods Project Officer

Moderator: Auckland University of Technology, Jem Bendell, Adjunct Professor

Plenary Session: Transparency & Corruption

•  What is the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)?

•  What are the challenges faced by the EITI?

•  What are the challenges faced by companies and investors?

• Does public sector transparency enable a country to pursue rational strategies for economic growth and development?

•  Discover how the Afghan Ministry of Finance tried to develop policies to tackle a situation of sudden inflow of reconstruction funding, in an instable political and security environment.

• How does access to reliable information from companies and governments allow businesses to compete for government tenders and to gain market access with greater ease?

Speakers:

Insight Investment, Rachel Crossley, Director, Investor Responsibility

Afghanistan, Seema Ghani, Former Deputy Minister of Finance

Plenary Session: Human Rights

•  What can be done to avoid systemic labour rights violations?

•  What are the reasons for companies engaging on human rights?

•  What can businesses learn from rights-based approaches to development?

Speakers:

IBLF, Lucy Amis, Business & Human Rights Programme Manager

Ethical Trading Initiative UK , Maggie Burns, founder