 This
symposium was held at the Water Dome,
Johannesburg, 30 August. Collaborative
organizations were the APO, the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), and UNEP. The objective
of the meeting was to deliberate on the GP and
Cleaner Production (CP) concepts in relation to
the important issues discussed at the WSSD and
their importance, based on past experiences in
the Asia-Pacific region, to small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) for enhancing their
competitiveness and environmental performance in
the present time of financial crisis.
APO Secretary-General Tajima, in his opening
remarks, highlighted the importance of SMEs in
the Asian region and hence the APO s special
emphasis on SMEs in all its activities,
including GP. Mr. Cornis van der Lugt, speaking
on behalf of the UNEP, gave an overview of the
various initiatives launched by the UNEP for the
SMEs. Mr. J. Warren Evans, Director of
Environment  and
Social Safeguard Division, ADB, presented the
bank s ongoing efforts in promoting CP concept.
Mr. Augustine Koh, APO Director for Environment,
presented the APO GP Program and some of the
success stories, while Dr. Loh Wah Sing,
Director of RIET, spoke on the Singapore
experience in water conservation and management.
Mme. Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel, Director,
UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and
Economy, in her closing remarks emphasized the
importance of changing production and
consumption patterns and on focusing on product
eco-design rather than on production process
alone.
The symposium had about 25 participants,
including officials from the ADB, UNEP, and
other agencies. A prominent guest was Dr. Kim
Hak-Su, UN Under Secretary-General and Executive
Secretary of ESCAP. |
