Press Release
20 January 2009
Minister calls on business to help protect poorest from impacts of economic crisis.
Joint press release by DFID, the Overseas Development Institute and Business Action for Africa
The economic downturn is putting millions in the poorest countries around the world at risk of greater poverty, DFID Minister Mike Foster said today.
At an event in London, hosted by DFID, the Overseas Development Institute and Business Action for Africa, to launch DFID’s Private Sector Development Strategy, Mike Foster said the downturn had put jobs, profits and poverty reduction at risk which demanded new thinking and approaches to sustained economic growth in poor countries.
Mike Foster said:
“The 90 million people who face extreme poverty because of the global slowdown need the opportunities that business provides,” he said.
“We know that the private sector is the engine of economic growth, and we know that growth drives development. The corporate social responsibility approach of the last ten years does not go far enough. Supporting development is – and must be – a core part of what businesses do, not an altruistic add-on.”
Also at the event, Oxfam CEO Barbara Stocking said long-term investment was
vital in developing countries and key sectors such as agriculture and finance.
She also said, to ensure sustainable long-term development, there needed to be a
dramatic increase in low-carbon private sector development to complement
investment in adaptation mechanisms.
Speaker Standard Chartered Vice Chair Ann Grant said: “The biggest contribution
the private sector can make to international development is to do business
successfully and responsibly. One of the consequences of the global economic
downturn will be a more urgent focus on how to harness core business activity as
a means of generating more sustainable and effective development outcomes.
However, as company resources inevitably come under pressure, we need to place
an even greater emphasis on new alliances and ways of working, and build the
understanding and capabilities to make this work in practice”
Event sponsor Andy Wales, Head of Sustainable Development at SABMiller said: “At SABMiller, with 80% of our worldwide earnings come from emerging markets, it makes sound business sense for us to contribute directly to economic growth and healthy and prosperous communities in the countries we do business in. As our new Enterprise Development report shows, a key area of focus for us is maximising our business linkages to local economies through our supply and value chains, supporting local suppliers, distributors and businesses, which delivers significant and sustainable local development impacts.”
This event launches a meeting series that can bring together company executives, practitioners, policy researchers, government and civil society to debate how the private sector will contribute to the development agenda, and how the climate for business and investment can be strengthened, in 2009 and beyond.
For more information visit
www.events.businessfightspoverty.org
