The 2nd World Conference on Green Productivity
9–11 Dec. 2002, Manila, Philippines
OPENING REMARKS
Mr. Takashi Tajima
Secretary-General, Asian Productivity Organization
Honorable
Alberto Romulo, Executive Secretary, Office of the
President, Republic of the Philippines; Honorable
Manuel Sanchez, Under Secretary, Department of Environment
& Natural Resources, the Philippines; Mr. Tadao
Chino, President of the Asian Development Bank; Dr.
Eduardo T. Gonzalez, President, Development Academy
of the Philippines & APO Alternate Director for
the Philippines;
Excellencies, Dignitaries, Speakers, Participants,
Ladies, and Gentlemen:It is my great pleasure to extend
a warm welcome to each of the distinguished participants
attending this World Conference on Green Productivity
(GP) being held in this country known as the Pearl
of the Orient. I would like to express my sincere
gratitude to the Government of the Republic of the
Philippines for kindly hosting this important APO
event for the second time. My heartfelt thanks also
go to the Development Academy of the Philippines for
making all the excellent arrangements for this conference.
In our pursuit of sustainable development, the first
World Conference on Green Productivity was organized
by the APO in 1996 at this very same venue. The APO
launched its GP Program in 1994, in response to the
outcome of the Rio Earth Summit held in 1992, with
special funding from the Government of Japan. The
GP Program was formulated based on the concept of
harmonizing productivity improvement with environmental
protection, leading to sustainable development.
The first World Conference on Green Productivity
in Manila was concluded with remarkable success by
adopting the Manila Declaration on GP, which laid
a solid foundation by calling for the involvement
of everyone in the GP movement as a strategy for achieving
sustainable socio-economic development.
The GP program is implemented through a three-tiered
approach, comprising promotion, demonstration, and
dissemination. Our experiences in implementing GP
through demonstration projects have shown that GP
works effectively in the industry, agriculture, and
service sectors as well as in communities.
This second conference provides us with a valuable
opportunity to review the past achievements of GP
endeavors in the region. It also aims to involve all
stakeholders in identifying new challenges, opportunities,
and modalities related to GP activities. For this
purpose, the conference will review the approaches
already taken by the APO. We must identify innovative
approaches to enhance GP expertise and practices with
the aim of assisting the NPOs to serve as focal points
for the promotion and dissemination of GP. The APO
also wishes to receive further cooperation from all
concerned parties in this regard.
Let me share my opinion on why further progress
in GP implementation is so necessary. We are all aware
that strenuous efforts have been made to achieve sustainable
development during the decade since Agenda 21 was
adopted at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. Nevertheless,
we must accept the hard fact that we are still beset
with a number of environmental issues and problems.
You may recall that the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg reaffirmed sustainable
development as a central element of the international
agenda and gave new impetus to global action to fight
against poverty and protect the environment. I am
pleased to inform you that the APO participated in
the WSSD and successfully launched a partnership initiative
on poverty alleviation and environmental protection.
We also joined with other international partners to
take steps to launch another partnership initiative
on sustainable investment in this region in the near
future.
Current global issues relating to water, energy,
depletion of the ozone layer, decreasing biodiversity,
etc. have been caused by the cumulative adverse impacts
of production and consumption patterns that are not
in line with sustainable development. We must make
additional efforts to achieve a better quality of
life through more active involvement of all stakeholders
in GP implementation in the region.
To do this, we have established a GP Advisory Committee
in Japan to obtain the cooperation of private-sector
enterprises in greening supply chains. We hope that
similar actions will also be taken in other countries.
At the same time, the APO would also like to promote
green purchasing.
This conference has brought together decision makers
and leading experts from around the world to deliberate
on the GP issues vital to achieving sustainable development.
All of us gathered here today are called upon to take
concerted actions in partnerships with shared responsibilities.
I am looking forward to stimulating discussions
and fruitful exchanges of ideas and opinions in the
next few days to chart the future directions of the
GP movement and devise concrete measures for its implementation.
In concluding, I would like to reiterate my deep
appreciation to the Government of the Republic of
the Philippines, the Development Academy of the Philippines,
the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Environment
Programme, and all the distinguished experts and resource
speakers for their support and contributions to this
conference.
