Making peace with nature is the defining task of the 21 st Century . It must be the top , top priority for everyone , everywhere .
as well as mechanisms within and related to APEC , including ABAC , the APEC Study Centres Consortium , and APEC permanent observers namely ASEAN , PECC , and PIF .
CROSS-FORA COLLABORATION
The APEC Committees and relevant sub-fora will integrate and advance the above agenda in their respective strategies and work plans , where appropriate , as well as deepening cross-fora collaboration . The APEC Secretariat will maintain an evergreen compendium of the actions and initiatives taken and provide regular updates for senior officials as the means to review our progress to contribute to and in accordance with the APA review process . Senior officials will have the overall responsibility for monitoring and evaluating progress under the Bangkok Goals on the BCG Economy . The furtherance of the sustainability agenda in a comprehensive and ambitious manner will support APEC ’ s growth trajectory towards a strong , balanced , secure , sustainable , and inclusive future .
GLOBAL TREND
The Malaysian Government has been promoting ESG ( Environmental Social Governance ) as the way forward for Malaysian industries in line with the global trend . Regulators , including the Securities Commission Malaysia ( SC ), are also helping to push the ESG agenda through the issuances of guidance notes and taxonomies to guide the domestic development of ESG investments . The Malaysian Investment Development Agency ( Mida ), as the principal investment promotion agency of the country , also targets ESG-driven investments in its promotional activities .
For Malaysian practising engineering consultancy firms , the writing is on the wall to adopt ESG for their advancement or be left behind in the competitive race to gain recognition or acceptance to participate in project development . Many MNCs and banks favour those firms embarking on ESG or its equivalent .
In this context , the Bangkok Goals on the BCG Economy is another important document to digest especially for Engineering Consultancy Practices ( ECP ) aspiring to venture into the Asia-Pacific area as part of APEC Connectivity Blueprint . BCG emphasises strengthening roles of MSMEs for building their capabilities in sustaining practices such as ESG and BCG approaches in order to be competitive , specialised , innovative and to expand into international markets .
The importance of BCG and ESG is best referred to in the quote by the UN Secretary General , Antonio Guterres , “ Making peace with nature is the defining task of the 21 st Century . It must be the top , top priority for everyone , everywhere .”
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