‘Sustainability vital input for all development’
The conference aims to promote governance and sustainability in all organisations in the Sultanate
MUSCAT: Oman Governance and Sustainability Centre (OGSC) organised the 1st Sustainability Conference under the auspices of Dr. Yahya bin Mahfoudh Al Mantheri, Chairman of the State Council at Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre on Tuesday.
The conference aims to promote governance and sustainability in all organisations in the Sultanate. The chief guest said that the United Nations (UN) encourages all states to introduce the concept of sustainability and that the Sultanate has taken many points and indices related to sustainability into consideration while developing its plans.
Abdullah bin Salem Al Salmi, OGSC Chairman stressed the importance of sustainability and its relation with all economic, knowledge and business fields.
While addressing the gathering, he noted that the conference cast light on a number of important issues related to sustainable economic development and its practices in the Sultanate.
He pointed out that the conference focuses on the Sustainability Charter.
On his turn, Sayyid Hamed bin Sultan Al Busaidi, Executive Manager of OGSC said that the Sustainability Charter aims at providing guiding principles in the field of sustainability to help organisations that seek to adopt best practices in this field.
The conference included a number of panel discussions; the first of which was under the theme the development of sustainability strategies in the Sultanate. The session covered the steps approved by the Sultanate to integrate sustainability in its Vision 2040. The session also discussed the national efforts made to ensure consistency between the sustainability plans and the UN Millennium Development Goals (UNMDGs)
The second session on social strategic investment programme highlighted the concept of social responsibility and the difference between this concept and the corporate social responsibility (CSR). The speakers reviewed the challenges facing those interested in the fields of social responsibility in terms of data collection and the technologies used in analysing return on investment (RoI).
The third session on public private partnership and its effect on the society covered the role of different sectors and the importance of enhancing cooperation between them to achieve the social effect that will lead to sustainable development.