Pathways to development: SDPI’s 17th annual conference from today

Former State Bank governor Dr Shamshad Akhtar will be the keynote speaker.

ISLAMABAD: The three-day 17th annual conference on “Pathways to Sustainable Development” organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) will open at Best Western Hotel today, said a press release.

Researchers, policy makers, and legislators from around South Asia will participate and speak at the event. They will share best practices and present workable solutions to emerging challenges people of South Asia are facing.

Case and success stories from other regions would also be shared. Officials of the UN agencies, ambassadors and key federal ministers will address panels on different themes. President Mamnoon Hussain will inaugurate the conference.

Former State Bank of Pakistan governor and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Dr Shamshad Akhtar will be the keynote speaker at the summit. Akhtar, who is also the executive secretary of Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Bangkok, will deliver her talk on ‘The Future of SDGs in South Asia in the Context of Changed Political Leadership’.

Some other notables include Madhya Pradesh State Planning Board Chairman Sompal Singh Shastri, UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) Chief Economist Dr Nagesh Kumar, and Afghan Deputy Minister for Finance Mohammad Mustafa Mastoor.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2014.