Your CSR Can Help Achieve Agenda 2030 Targets: Supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals
“Great effort & looking forward to more of similar activities.”
Participant feedback
On the 20th of September, AMCHAM hosted the first MY AMCHAM CARES Luncheon Forum “Your CSR Can Help Achieve Agenda 2030 Targets: Supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals” at The Westin Kuala Lumpur.
The main objective was to initiate a dialogue between AMCHAM members, the United Nations and other stakeholders, focusing on corporate involvement in Achieving Agenda 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The event kicked off with warm welcoming remarks from AMCHAM’s Executive Director, Siobhan Das.
Mr. Stefan Priesner, the UN Resident Coordinator for Malaysia and UNDP Resident Representative for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, commenced the forum discussion with an opening keynote presentation on Achieving Agenda 2030. Mr. Priesner’s presentation highlighted the SDG’s and their importance, as well as Malaysia’s progress in achieving the targets. Globally, 10,000 companies are currently contributing to the SDG’s. According to Mr Priesner, “The goal is to make sure everybody doesn’t see this as additional costs, but simple business ethics that everybody has to follow.” And the UN is looking forward to working together with business associations and chambers like AMCHAM to raise more awareness.
The forum then moved into an enlightening panel discussion, which was moderated by Professor Datuk Dr. Denison Jayasooria the Co Chair of the Malaysian CSO SDG Alliance and the Chair of the Asian Council for Solidarity Economy. The panelists present were Mr. Chin Keat Chyuan, the Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson Malaysia, Ms. Peggy Fung, the Country Manager and Pfizer Essential Health (PEH) Lead, Pfizer Malaysia and Brunei, and Mr. Brian Davis, the Honeywell Aerospace Vice President of Air Transport and Regional Commercial Aerospace in Asia Pacific. Mr Stefan Priesner also joined the discussion.
During the off-the-record session, AMCHAM members and guests that attended had the chance to interact directly with the panelists. This created a very robust discussion between the panelists and guests, and many common thoughts were identified. Some of the concluding points identified a need for companies and other stakeholders to enhance collaboration, to avoid silos and fill gaps;, as well as a call by many participants to have more such Forums, for discussion and sharing among the various stakeholders, in our effort to achieve the 2030 Agenda goals.
Offering an insightful wrap-up of the forum was The Honorable Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia, who delivered a keynote address titled “Lessons from Today Towards A Sustainable Tomorrow.”
AMCHAM would like to thank everyone who participated- especially the panelists and speakers, for sharing their experiences and insight.
The next MY AMCHAM CARES event to look forward to is AMCHAM’s Thanksgiving Luncheon where we’ll be recognising companies through our MY AMCHAM CARES survey, completed earlier this year. Please stay tuned.
