CAIRO: The Egyptian Junior Business Association (EJB) hosted earlier this week Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan as a guest speaker at its annual conference, which this year focused on how sustainability can improve competitiveness in all sectors in Egypt. EJB has around 600 members from different sectors working to enhance the business environment, with a dedicated Sustainability Task Force aimed at spreading awareness of the role of civil society and private sector in this regard. Its annual conference, under the auspices of First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, tackles a specific issue each year, this time being "Sustainability's Competitive Advantage.Making Sustainable Development Count in Egypt. The conference witnessed the launch of the Egyptian Chapter of The Arab Sustainability Leadership Group (ASLG). Founded by Queen Rania in 2008, the ASLG is "a network of high profile companies, government entities, and non-profit organizations committed to achieving the highest levels of sustainability management, performance and reporting, a statement read. It works as a forum for peer-to-peer collaboration and knowledge sharing, a platform for influencing innovative policy and fostering partnerships at the CEO level, and a voice to the rest of the world on key regional sustainability issue. At the conference, Queen Rania said that unfortunately, the region has lagged in some areas of development, testament to which is the fact that with a population of 330 million, the Arab world produces less than 1 percent of online content. However, she added, the excuse can not be placed solely on bureaucracy and business associations need to play a larger role in tackling developmental challenges including sustainability. Hassan El-Khattib, former chairman of EJB, said sustainability is one of three points the association works on to enhance the business environment, cooperating with the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council. Ashraf El-Gazayerli was announced as the new chairman of the EJB on the sidelines of the seventh annual conference. Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid said at the conference that the Egypt is facing major challenges, namely raising economic growth to 7-8 percent annually and then maintaining that level to achieve a level of sustainability. Some of the main challenges over the next 10 years include developing human resources, energy and water, he added. Prominent businessman Helmy Aboul Eish said that the ASLG is a first step towards facing the challenges of the 21st century. He highlighted climate change as another key challenge that must be addressed, namely because Egypt stands to lose 6-16 percent of its cultivable land in the process. Laws must be implemented that regulate water and energy consumption, he added.
