“We have gathered ministers, ambassadors and business people for a two-day conference in Cairo to increase the awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals for the private sector in the Middle East and North Africa. We want to give business professionals tangible and readily implementable tools to use that will both benefit businesses and society as a whole,” says Eng. Ahmed Kamal, Executive director of Environmental Compliance Office and Sustainable Development the Federation of Egyptian Industries.

The UN Sustainable Development is a framework agreed among 193 countries and it addresses the main global challenges that societies face across the globe. There are 17 goals covering everything from poverty and hunger to economic growth and decent jobs. The private sector plays a central role in reaching these goals.

Among the speakers at the conference that took place at the Nile Ritz-Carlton were HE Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, HE Tomas Christensen, Danish Ambassador to Egypt , Mr. Richard Dictus, UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt , Dr. Ahmed Kamaly, Deputy Minister for Planning affairs

At the conference, 12 selected companies were awarded the SDG Award from the Federation of Egyptian Industries for being some of the leading companies within sustainable development. The conference also saw the launch of the umbrella initiative SDGrowth that aims to work with Egyptian companies to strategically use the global goals as a business driver.