11th International Business Forum, 8 October 2006, Bonn, Germany

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 is a major challenge for the international community. The UN General Assembly states that the challenge is tightly connected to the situation in Africa:

“We reaffirm our commitment to address the special needs of Africa, which is the only continent not on track to meet any of the goals of the Millennium Declaration by 2015 “(Article 68 of the Millenium+5 Summit 2005 Declaration)

Increasing the Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Africa will also not be enough to achieve the goals. Therefore, other sources have to be mobilized:

“We welcome the positive contributions of the private sector … in the promotion of and implementation of development and human rights programs and stress the importance of their continued engagement with Governments, the United Nations and other international organizations in these key areas.??? (Article 172 of the Millenium+5 Summit 2005 Declaration)

Why should business assume a leading role?

The positive impacts on development emanating from private capital are reaching far behind financial aspects. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is just the starting point. In order to reach the MDGs, the core business case for reaching the poor needs to be focused. To develop proper market entry strategies, existing sources and knowledge should be used. Thus, topics such as brain gain, the role of the Diaspora in business promotion and the effective use of overseas transfers will be dealt with. Focus will also be put on the discussion about the effects of the ongoing globalization process, triggering new economic structures such as South-South business ties and new approaches to economic infrastructure that enable business by doing business.

What is the Focus?

The International Business Forum 2006 is host to a concentrated learning process on goals, good practice examples and tools for private sector approaches to MDG achievement in Africa. The purpose of this learning process is to demonstrate that ODA and private capital flows are complementary sources in the process of MDG-achievement in this region. But more interestingly for business actors: there are vast business opportunities still untapped.

Recent and innovative answers from a business perspective.

To take up this challenge, the 11th International Business Forum 2006 will examine the practical implications of doing business in Africa by dealing with the following three topics. In doing so, the Forum contributes to the follow-up of the Africa Initiative initiated by the British government during the British G8 presidency.

Topic 1: New network potential — advancing the positive approach to migration

Topic 2: New economic structures — strengthening South-South business ties

Topic 3: New economic infrastructure - enabling business by doing business

(click on the links above to read more about each topic)

In addition to the main topics, the 11th International Business Forum 2006 wants to give the participants the opportunity to leverage the conference’s networking potential by offering a matchmaking event: the Net-making session.

Who should attend?

The International Business Forum 2006 brings together representatives from businesses and business-driven organizations. It connects the opinion leaders with those who want to follow suit. Participants originate from industrialized countries, anchor countries and developing countries. The business-driven discussions are reflected and enriched by contributors from public sector, academia, civil society and international organizations. The conference language will be in English.

The International Business Forum 2006 is not an isolated event. It is embedded in a broader capacity building process focusing on Business and MDGs and ties up to the 10th International Business Forum 2005 "Business and the Millennium Development Goals: An Active Role for Globally Responsible Companies??? and its predecessors. Please click here to read the report of the 10th International Business Forum.

Click here to download the leaflet of the 11th International Business Forum.