Global Chamber Dhaka Press Desk
Global Chamber Dhaka, in collaboration with Movementum Consultancy and Facilitation Group (MCFG), Global Chamber, ICE Business Times and Impact Hub Dhaka virtually organized the two-part series Sustainable Success. The first segment focused on “Accelerating Business as a Force for Good” and the follow up globinar was a three way cross metro session with Global Chamber New York and Global Chamber London on “How to Create Global ESG Impact” was held on the 8th September 2021 and 29th September 2021 respectively.
The Sustainable Success globinar series brought in experts on building businesses that support the present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs – through social development, environment protection, economic growth, and collaboration between the private sector and the local government. The prominent speakers in the panel focused on creating business practices following the B Corp Certification and sustainability.
The Keynote speaker was Carolina Miranda, Founder, and CEO of Cultivating Capital. Emphasizing on the importance of B Corp certifications for businesses she informed the attendees that, “B Corp is a global movement that is accelerating as a force for good”. Carolina ended the session saying “The B Corp impact assessment is a free tool, anyone can use it individually as a resource.”
Second speaker Shihab Quader, International Project Manager, Yunus Centre; sharing his point of view regarding social business commented, “The core value of social business is to create inclusivity.”
Christina Sjahli, the finance expert of the panel and Founder and CEO of Profit Reimagined, informed the audience,“Financial maturity plus sustainable business practices equals profitability”.
And finally, Sirazoom Munira (Silvy),Program Officer, Climate Vulnerable Forum, gave an anecdote of natural disasters’ impact on the people living on the outskirts of the Sundarbans she said, ” We need to be their voice and help them in their fight for justice as they are suffering from the outcome of climate change which they are not the cause of.”
In the second Globinar, the panel of experts put more emphasis on the reduction of cost of obtaining timely, proper utilization of ESG funds, material factors on sustainability impacts and investment funds, risks involved, reducing complexity, and assisting government institutions in tracking sustainable development regulatory aspects. The goals spanned all aspects of social development, environmental protection, and economic growth. The most important was guaranteeing a healthy life, access to essential amenities such as clean water and sanitation, generational development through education, and reducing economic inequalities.
The keynote speaker, Dr Indranil Ghosh, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Tiger Hill Capital stated, “Opportunity for Emerging Markets to leapfrog in areas like wireless connectivity, distributed energy, natural materials, e-health, e-govt, and financial inclusion.”
He also stated that, “System Change requires a convergence between changing social attitudes reflected in policies and institutions enabled by technology and innovation”.
Rondi Allan, Sustainability Consultant/Director of Sustainable X was the second panelist. She stated various statistical information on how SMEs can impact in achieving sustainable goals. She quoted, “SMEs are a powerful population and accelerate sustainability, as it is the only direction of travel.”
And finally Nirjhor Rahman, CEO of Bangladesh Angels shared his insights with the audience.
Nirjhor started by stating “Bangladesh has the fastest growth in economy besides only Vietnam and it is the 8th largest mobile market globally.” He also mentioned about “Bangladesh Angels is currently working along with a British Bangladeshi company whose one of the main focus is sustainability”
The speakers drew attention to the challenges and opportunities inherent in the status quo for the private sector’s investment in ESG funds, financial instruments and related services necessary for development and implementation of sustainable business models. The speakers discussed emerging opportunities for better leveraging digital technologies for sustainable development financing and emphasized the private sector’s role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
The events were moderated by Maimun Mustafa, Executive Director, GC Dhaka, Susan Asadi, Executive Director, GC NYC and Kathleen Keith, Executive Director, Global Chamber London. Maimun Mustafa, Executive Director of Global Chamber Dhaka expressed his satisfaction by commenting, “Global Chamber promotes meaningful discussions on contemporary sustainability investment topics such as B Corps, Social Business, Environment and ESG investment which can benefit stakeholders from all relevant backgrounds across the globe to contribute to much needed sustainable impact.”
