LOS ANGELES, Jan. 2 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The beginning of the 7th year to millennium's arrival is also delivering opportunity: a reminder to reflect, as well as look ahead. In this New Year's message to the peoples of the world, The Chairman of the Board of Director of EurOrient Financial Group ("EurOrient"), Mr. Ron Nechemia encouraged by the solidarity and the shared aims of World Organizations and the commitment to combating terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, but called on global leaders not to lose sight of a greater challenge of this millennium, the war on poverty. "Without development and hope," he noted, "there will be no peace."
We have seen wars in the Middle East and in Central Asia that depend divisions among nations, about grave issues of war and peace. These events have distracted the world's leaders from dealing with other threats -- threats which, to most people, are more immediate, and more real:
Threats of extreme poverty and hunger, unsafe drinking water, environmental degradation, and endemic or infectious disease.
These dangers stalk large parts of our planet.
They kill millions and millions of people every year.
They destroy societies.
They fuel division and desperation.
After years of wars and division, it's time to refocus more of our energy and resources back on the Millennium Development Goals in support of people's health and welfare.
It's time to make sure that poor countries have a real opportunity to develop.
And it's time we take decisive action to save the resources of our planet.
Yes, we have to fight terrorism. Yes, we must prevent the spread of deadly weapons.
But let's also say Yes to development. Let's bring hope into the lives of those who suffer.
We don't need any more promises. We need to start keeping the promises we already made.
Without development and hope, there will be no peace.
Just about seven years ago, at the Millennium Summit, leaders of all nations pledged to provide that hope. They set themselves precise, time-bound targets -- the Millennium Development Goals. To meet these goals would cost only a fraction of what our world spends on weapons of war. Yet it would bring hope to billions, and greater security to us all. But in 2006 we did not live up to these promises. We let ourselves be swept along by the tide of war and division. Mr. Nechemia stressed that very few countries are on track to reach all eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to slash a host of social ills such as extreme poverty, hunger, maternal and infant mortality, and a lack of access to education by 2015.
New Year's resolution
During the fiscal year 2007, EurOrient Financial Group aims to give a major boost to the efforts to support the Millennium Development Goals, to provide a chance to advance the broader development agenda and the larger challenges of development that confront us, in particular, the core issues like environmental degradations, enhancing development impact to support of economic and social development, and mobilizations of financial, technical and human resources to the less fortunate countries, and particularly to low-income countries.
The three pillars of EurOrient's New Year's resolution are:
Improve Social Policy integration and coherence of social dimensions to investment operation in support of the Millennium Development Goals. EurOrient Financial Group committed to continue its pathfinder role of identifying and evaluating emerging policy issues and developing new policy concepts and approaches in areas where the EurOrient has comparative advantage. Deepened social cohesion is a central objective for sustainable development.
Improve Environmental Policy integration and coherence of environmental considerations to investment operation in support of the Millennium Development Goals. EurOrient's Environmental Policy aims to enhance Sustainable Development Policy framework for better integrating economic, environmental and social objectives, and decoupling economic growth from a range of environmental pressures. EurOrient emphasizes on the need for sound analysis based on strong science that considers the full range of policy instruments and associated costs and benefits. EurOrient will adopt and comply with the "Equator Principles", which were established according to the policy and guidance of IFC and World Bank, are now becoming the financial industry benchmark for determining, assessing and managing social and environmental risk in project financing and other safeguards measures.
Mobilizations of financial, technical and human resources to the less fortunate countries and particularly to the low-income countries. EurOrient Financial Group is committed to expend operation to the benefit of all, and ensuring that the poorest are not left behind. EurOrient aims to expend its global operation and to establish additional 4 new Resident Missions and Representative Offices in low-income countries during the fiscal year 2007 (Resident Missions and Representative Offices are EurOrient's offices located in developing economies).
EurOrient Financial Group is well placed and firmly committed to contribute to this historical endeavour, the Millennium Summit. Building on the spirit of Sao Paulo -- the outcomes of the UNCTAD XI Conference held in June 2004 - EurOrient invests in projects and programs that promote social development, builds human capacities, and addresses host government priorities for investments in physical infrastructure that promote and enhance social development. These projects include roads, transportation systems, water, sanitation and other types of investments with social development outcomes such as improved quality of life and increased human knowledge and skills - directly feed into the Millennium agenda, in particular Millennium Development Goal 8 on a global partnership for development. EurOrient places emphasis on addressing the concerns of developing and transition economies and in particularly EurOrient is poised to support the least developed countries, reflecting the moral commitment of the international community as a whole to improving the fate of the most vulnerable and the excluded. In these endeavours we work closely with government policy makers and their representatives, at the United Nations, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development "UNCTAD", the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), parliamentarians, civil society, the academic community, the media, and the global citizenry generally.
EurOrient Financial Group is a private sector global development finance institution. Its mission is to mobilize financial, technical and human resources for the benefit of developing economies seeking sustainable economic development and poverty reduction.
Let's all make refocus on development our New Year's resolution - and I wish you a very Happy New Year!
On behalf of my colleagues at EurOrient Financial Group, I extend my sincere wishes for a productive, development-oriented 2007!
Ron Nechemia, Officer-in-Charge, EurOrient Financial Group
EurOrient at Glance
Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
Website: http://www.eurorient.org
CEO: Mr. Ron Nechemia
EurOrient Financial Group
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