PEACE CLUB MEETING

The second foundation meeting of the Partnership between Europe and Asia for Cleaner Environment, PEACE was organized by involving a large number of participants from Europe and Asia. The meeting coincided with the international conference on Corporate Governance and the 11th World Congress of Total Quality. Dr.Madhav Mehra, President, World Environment Foundation in his opening remarks gave a genesis in terms of the Asia eco-best programme set up by European Union in 1996 with a mandate to promote environment friendly economic growth in Asia by establishing partnership with European institutions and industries. To promote such a cooperation the European Union organized the first Round Table in Brussels on December 1998. Subsequently the World Environment Foundation took the initiative and organized the Round Table in India during June 4-6, 1999. Regional Institute of Environmental Technology, Singapore, sponsored the Round Table. Following this initiative, the WEF organized a foundation meeting of the network title, Partnership between Europe and Asia for Cleaner Environment, PEACE . The PEACE Clubs will focus on networking arrangements to provide latest information on environmental technologies for mutual transfer between Europe and Asia. The focus will be on smaller and medium enterprises.

Mr.Claude Fussler, who was the first President of the European Partners for the Environment also addressed the participants of the conference. He supported Dr.Madhav Mehra's presentation on the need for closer coordination between Europe and Asia to promote mutual technology transfer. He identified that the important elements in such transfer will be the overseas aid of the developed countries which unfortunately has been reducing and no country is fulfilling its promise to providing 0.7 percent of its GNP towards overseas aid.. Mr.Fussler also emphasized that there are lots of technologies in India that are more affordable and suitable for use in the Asian countries. Horizontal transfer amongst the Asian partners can also be useful. He showed his disagreement on general impression that the European Companies preferred to transfer outdated technologies. He suggested that good business enterprise will always try to transfer best technologies and the latest technologies to make maximum profit. He assured to take back the observations of the meeting and encouraged members of the European Partners for Environment for similar coordination. The following points were emerged during the discussion:

• The beneficiaries should be very carefully identified.
• The selection of environmental cleaner technologies must be carefully carried out.
• The process for setting up the PEACE Clubs should be launched immediately.
• The group resolved that the working group has been set up to evolve the details for setting up the PEACE Club Delhi.

Mr. Nayaz Rasul, Additional Industrial Adviser was requested to be the convenor of the group and complete other formalities for setting up the Delhi PEACE Club.

The meeting ended with thanks to the Chair.