Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – A two-day international business conference namely Asia Pacific Business Forum (APBF) will be held on 8-9 February 2017 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
APBF jointly organised by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Bangladesh and the world business organization and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), said a press statement of ICC.
The theme of the Forum is “Regional Integration to Achieve Sustainable Development” as envisaged by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030.
APBF is a multi-stakeholder forum held annually with the mission to provide the best platform for regional public-private dialogue on the role and needs of business in achieving inclusive, resilient and sustainable development.
Besides international speakers and experts, there are more than 400 delegates registered for this conference being held at Dhaka for the first time from home and abroad.
It is being attended by members from the Asia and Pacific countries from the Governments, civil society and the business.
The forthcoming APBF 2017 will be inaugurated by H.E. Md. Abdul Hamid, Honorable President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh on Wednesday 8 February 2017.
Distinguished speakers of the Inaugural session are H.E. Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, M.P., Minister of Finance, Bangladesh; H.E. Tofail Ahmed, M.P., Minister of Commerce, Bangladesh; H.E. Romi Gauchan Thakali, Minister for Commerce, Nepal; H.E. Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Sri Lanka; Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General, UNCTAD; Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP; Wencai Zhang, Vice-President (Operations), Asian Development Bank (ADB); Dr. Victor K. Fung, Group Chairman, Fung Group, Honorary Chairman, Li & Fung Ltd. and Former Global ICC Chairman , Mahbubur Rahman, President, International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh and Chairman ETBL Holdings Limited; and Latifur Rahman, Vice President ICC Bangladesh and Chairman Transcom Group.
On 9 February there will be one plenary and 6 business sessions.
The plenary session will be on Linking Business with the Sustainable Development Goals: What Can We Do?” The moderator of the session is H.E. Mr. Tofail Ahmed, M.P. Minister of Commerce, Bangladesh.
APBF will hold its substantive Sessions linked to the theme of “Promoting Trade and Investment for the Successful Implementation of SDGs” on the following topics:
1. Devising Strategies for Resilience: Role of Business in Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation.The Moderator of this session will be Asif Ibrahim, Chair of the ESBN Task Force on Disaster and Climate Risk Reduction.
2. New Energy Realities: Building a Resilient and Low-carbon Future.The Moderator of this session will be Nazimuddin Chowdhury Secretary, Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Government of Bangladesh.
3. Supporting Trade and Transport Facilities for Regional Integration.
The moderator will be Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, ndc, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Commerce Senior Commerce Secretary of Bangladesh.
4. Supporting SDGs through Digital Financial Models by Inclusive Business. The Moderator will be Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, Former Governor, Bangladesh Bank
5. Supporting and Empowering Disadvantaged MSMEs to Become More Competitive and Sustainable.
The Moderator will be Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, ndc, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Commerce Senior Commerce Secretary of Bangladesh.
6. Economic Outlook and Key Policy Challenges in Emerging Asia. His session will be moderated by Masato Abe, Economic Affairs Officer, Business and Development Section, Trade, Investment and Innovation Division, UNESCAP.
On 9 February in Plenary Session (at 9.30am to 11.30am) the speakers are: H.E. Romi Gauchan Thakali, Minister for Commerce, Nepal; H.E. Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Sri Lanka; H.E. Prof. Dr. Gowher Rizvi, Honourable Adviser for International Relation Affairs to the Prime Minister, Bangladesh; Dr. A. B. Mirza Md. Azizul Islam, former Advisor to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, In-charge of Ministries of Finance and Planning, Bangladesh; Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General, UNCTAD; Wencai Zhang, Vice-President (Operations), Asian Development Bank (ADB); Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Michael Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer/Director, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI); Abul Kalam Azad, Principal Coordinator, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Affairs.
Introductory remarks will be given by Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP where the moderator of the session is H.E. Tofail Ahmed, Minister of Commerce, Bangladesh.
The theme of the plenary session is “Linking Business with the Sustainable Development Goals: What Can We Do?”
Speakers of the parallel session one (at 12:00- 13:30) will be Puji Pujiono, Regional Adviser on Disaster Risk Reduction, ESCAP, Mr. Emdadul Haque, Additional Secretary, Executive Member Planning & Development, Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), Daniel Gilman, Humanitarian Affairs Officer, Regional Partnerships Unit, UN OCHA Regional Office – Asia Pacific, Md. Abdul Jabbar, Managing Director, DBL Group, Nirvana Chaudhary, Managing Director, Chaudhary Group, Nepal, Madhura Mitra, Manager – Sustainability, Pricewaterhouse Coopers India, Jared Berends, Karma C. Nyedrup, Environment Specialist, National Environment Commission, Royal Government of Bhutan.
The Moderator of this session will be Mr. Asif Ibrahim, Chair of the ESBN Task Force on Disaster and Climate Risk Reduction.
This session’s theme is Devising Strategies for Resilience: Role of Business in Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation.
Speakers of parallel session two will be Prof. Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research, Bangladesh, Abrar A. Anwar, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh, Dr. Arbind Kumar Mishra, Member of Nepal Planning Commission, Nepal, Dr. Arunabha Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, Council on Energy, India, Karma Tshewang, Chief Engineer, Department of Hydropower & Power Systems (DHPS), Bhutan, Kensuke Tanaka, Head of Asia Desk, OECD Development Centre, Prof. Dr. Badrul Imam, Department of Geology, University of Dhaka, Mahmood Malik, Chief Executive Officer of Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. (IDCOL), Bangladesh.
The Moderator of this session will be Nazimuddin Chowdhury Secretary, Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Government of Bangladesh.
New Energy Realities: Building a Resilient and Low-carbon Future is the theme of this session.
Parallel session three will be moderated by Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, ndc, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Commerce Senior Commerce Secretary of Bangladesh where the speakers will be Md. Nojibur Rahman, Senior Secretary – IRD & Chairman, National Board of Revenue (NBR), Ministry of Finance, Amb. Mahbub Uz Zaman, Secretary (Asia & Pacific), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh, Ms. Wendy Jo Werner, Country Manager, Bangladesh, Bhutan & Nepal, IFC, World Bank Group, Dr. Ravi Ratnayake, Adviser to the Agency for International Trade, Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade, Sri Lanka, Prof. Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD),Bangladesh, Naser Ezaz Bijoy, Country Head of Banking, Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh, David Morris, Chief Representative (Trade Commissioner), Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and Pacific Islands Trade & Invest, Bipul Chatterjee, Executive Director CUTS International, India, Prof. Sheikh Morshed Jahan, Institute of Business Administration University of Dhaka.
The theme of this session will be Supporting Trade and Transport Facilities for Regional Integration.
Business session one will be moderated by Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, Former Governor, Bangladesh Bank where the speakers will be Arastoo Khan, Chairman, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. Prof. Dr. Naoyuki Yoshino, Dean, Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Prof. Barbara Meynert, Chair of the ESBN Task Force on Digital Economy, George Kam Ho Yuen, Board Director, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia), Phang Yew Kiat, Vice Chair and CEO of Credit China FinTech Holding Limited, Sohail R. K. Hussain, Managing Director & CEO, The City Bank Limited, Kamal Quadir, Chief Executive Officer, bKash Limited, Mahtabuddin Ahmed, Managing Director and CEO, Robi Axiata Limited, Muhammad A. (Rumee) Ali, Chairman, ICC Bangladesh Banking Commission & CEO of Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC), Vineet Sachdev, Director, BOSS BPO,(a unit of Bahri Trading Company, Sachdeva Group).
The theme of this session will be Supporting SDGs through Digital Financial Models by Inclusive Business from 1:30-2:30 pm.
Business Session two will be Moderated by Md. Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, ndc, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Industries of Bangladesh. Speakers are Rokia Afzal Rahman, Vice President, ICC Bangladesh and Chairman, Arlinks Limited, Suren Vardanyan, Vice-President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Russia, Philip Kucharski, Chief Operating Officer, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Prof. Ken Yan Cheng Pan, President, Trade & Industry Association (Singapore), Dr. Sandro Calvani, Senior Adviser on Strategic Planning, Mae Fah Luang Foundation, Thailand, Dr. Momtaz Uddin Ahmed, Director, SME Foundation and Honorary Professor, Department of Economics, Dhaka University, Bangladesh, Mr. Karma Tshewang, CEO,GRED, Thimphu, Bhutan, Sampa Banerjee, Executive Director, World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME).
This session will be moderated by Md. Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, ndc, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Industries of Bangladesh on Supporting and Empowering Disadvantaged MSMEs to Become More Competitive and Sustainable.
The session on Economic Outlook and Key Policy Challenges in Emerging Asia will be moderated by Dr. Masato Abe, Economic Affairs Officer, Business and Development Section, Trade, Investment and Innovation Division, UNESCAP.
Presentation on Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India 2017: Addressing Energy Challenges will be given by Mr. Kensuke Tanaka, Head of Asia Desk, OECD Development Centre. Other discussants will be Dr. Khan Ahmed Sayeed Murshid, Director General, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies(BIDS), Dr. Khondoker Golam Moazzem, Additional Director-Research Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
This session will be from 16:00-17:30.
The closing session will be moderated by Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and closing remarks will be delivered by Dr. Hongjoo Hahm, Deputy Executive Secretary, ESCAP and Mahbubur Rahman, President, ICC Bangladesh.
After the concluding session there will be a press briefing chaired by Mahbubur Rahman, President, ICC Bangladesh to draw the curtain of this international event.
This is the first time Bangladesh is a host country to organize APBF.
BBN/SSR/SK