Development depends on social and environmental progress: ESCAP

The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Week closed at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) headquarters in Bangkok on Friday, with the adoption of a set of concrete policy recommendations aimed at improving regional cooperation, despite a climate of global economic uncertainty.
Policymakers from over 30 countries and representatives of regional bodies underlined that the Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved through protectionist policies.
Instead, the region and the global economy need targeted trade and investment liberalisation policies that are more inclusive and mindful of the social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, said a press release from ESCAP.