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On November 12-13, some 85 participants representing business, civil society,
government and academia in the Central Asian region as well as several UN
agencies gathered in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for a workshop titled "Promoting
stability and growth in Central Asia through expanded business opportunities."
This multi-stakeholder dialogue, the first meeting of its kind in
the region, was organized by the UN Global Compact in collaboration with
the UNDP and was a regional follow-up to Global Compact Policy Dialogue on “The
Role of Private Sector in Zones of Conflict”, held in 2001. The five plenary
sessions organized over a two-day period addressed a range of critical factors
for the future development of the region. Among the issues explored were:
transparency; conflict impact assessment and risk management; multi-stakeholder
partnership initiatives; and revenue-sharing regimes. The goal was to translate
previously developed general policies and guidelines into practical
recommendations and concrete actions adapted to the development context of the
Central Asian region.
The candid conversations and
discussions produced recommendations in three general areas of importance:
Under the leadership of the UNDP, participants will initiate and
develop a best practices manual to outline the type of activities needed to best
develop the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region.
Further, participants agreed to promote transparency and
anti-corruption activities, stressing the importance of the UN Convention
against Corruption and the need for business to take a public stand against
bribery and corruption.
Finally, there was broad consensus
to encourage further collaboration of all stakeholders toward greater stability
and regional economic cooperation in Central Asia, expressing the desire for the
creation of a more integrated market.
Click here for a list of participants.
Click here for the background note of the
meeting.
