Speakers at a discussion on Saturday said proper reporting of the private sector companies to publicly disclose their environmental, social and governance practices is crucial to ensuring smooth LDC graduation.
Reporting on the status of the workers’ rights is another vital element for the LDC transformation, they said.
Such reporting has been described by the experts as “sustainability” reporting.
The speakers said that there is a need to have an institutional framework to promote and guide such good reporting practices for the sake of stronger and sustainable growth of the private sector in Bangladesh.
The Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, in partnership with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Environment Program Poverty-Environment Action, hosted the dialogue titled “Sustainability Reporting by the Private Sector in Bangladesh: Expectations and Experience.”
Towfiqul Islam Khan, Senior Research Fellow of CPD, in his keynote presentation said that sustainability reporting in the private sector ensures “short-term profits do not turn into long-term liabilities.”
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Convenor of the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, and Distinguished Fellow of CPD, moderated the dialogue.
He mentioned said that sustainability reporting is significant in the process of LDC graduation and achieving the SDGs.
“We should include a strategy paper in the LDC…We also would focus on relational data. Still, there is a lack of awareness in preparing sustainable reports. He also mentioned two types of failures: regulatory failure and market failure,” he added.
Saber Hossain Chowdhury, MP, Chairman, of the Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bangladesh was present as Chief Guest.
He said that the private sector should take the issue of sustainability reporting seriously.
Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, CPD, Amitabh Chakraborty, Additional Director, Sustainable Finance Department, Bangladesh Bank, Prasenjit Chakma, Assistant Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Bangladesh, Asif Ibrahim, Chairman, Chittagong Stock Exchange spoke in the dialogue on the topic.
Prominent business leaders also contributed to the dialogue, including Kamran T. Rahman, Senior Vice President, of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Fazlul Haque, Former President of BKMEA, Shams Mahmud, Former President, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Zaved Akhtar, CEO of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd., Ferdaus Ara Begum, Chief Executive Officer, of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD), Lutfar Parvez, Director, Supply Chain Operations, American and Efird (Bangladesh) Ltd. Among other experts, Dr M Abu Eusuf, Executive Director, RAPID and Professor, Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka, Sharmind Neelormi, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Jahangirnagar University, Farkrul Ahsan, Chief Technical Advisor, Strengthening Institution Capacity for SDGs Achievement in Bangladesh (SC4SDG), UNDP and Raquibul Amin, Country Representative, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) were also present in the function.
Source: United News of Bangladesh