afrol News, 5 January - Malagasy Prime Minister Jacques Sylla recently launched a programme in Antananarivo to have international companies and local businesses promote business activity to reduce poverty and help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The launch of the Growing Sustainable Business for Poverty Reduction Initiative drew 120 participants from government, business, civil society, the UN development agency UNDP and the donor community. UNDP Madagascar was coordinating the initiative.

- For my government, the public sector and private sector are complementary and contribute together to development, Prime Minister Sylla told UNDP in Antananarivo.

Mr Sylla noted that the private sector has an important part in eradicating poverty and promoting human development. "The role of companies goes well beyond the production and sale of goods and services," he added.

Electricité de France at the event was proposing three projects to supply power to rural areas and poor communities near urban areas, and a fourth to improve community water supply, UNDP reports today.

The rural electricity project, the furthest along, has received government approval, completed a full assessment of engineering and environmental requirements, and will likely start within two months. According to UNDP, it will help set up locally managed utilities using mini-hydro technology to generate power for villages, part of the government's electrification strategy.

Total, a multinational energy and chemical company, was proposing to help small and medium-sized fuel transport enterprises expand and improve their operations.

This is supposed to work with communities to ensure that fuel transport is safe and environmentally friendly, and is expected to highlight transport constraints, such as poor roads and inadequate safety regulations, to encourage dialogue and problem-solving.

- It may also promote access to loans to help the enterprises expand, helping overcome a key impediment to growth faced by many businesses in developing countries, UNDP reports from Madagascar.

Other participating international businesses included Rio Tinto, a mining company; Société Générale, a financial services group; Coca Cola; and Tata, a major Indian company. Representatives of a number of Malagasy companies and business associations also attended the launch. More companies were expected to take part in the initiative, UNDP says.

- The private sector constitutes a critical link in economic growth and prosperity, comments Bouri Sanhouidi, UNDP Resident in Madagascar, noting that its role is becoming an international priority, with private enterprises taking an increasing part in debates and actions to stem poverty.

The initiative grew out of a UN Global Compact policy dialogue on Growing Sustainable Business in the Least Developed Countries that a high-level meeting endorsed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002.

According to UNDP, the initiative "recognises that the private sector can contribute significantly to sustainable development through investment, developing innovative products, services and approaches, and by working with other partners."

Led by Richard Sandbrook, the initiative has already launched activities in Ethiopia and Tanzania, with proposed activities under consideration in Angola and Bangladesh. UNDP is coordinating and facilitating the initiative with support from several other UN agencies.

By staff author

© afrol News

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