Nga calls for more people-public-private partnerships for sustainable development at UN-Habitat World Urban Forum

CAIRO, Egypt: Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming has urged the international community to promote people-public-private partnerships for sustainable cities and communities.

“Without the full participation of the private sector, we cannot deliver on a better quality of life for our citizens,” said Nga in his keynote address at the 12th World Urban Forum Business Assembly.

“As you know, 70% of all global wealth is in private hands. Without your help as the business assembly, urbanisation will not be sustainable,” he added.

Furthermore, Nga emphasised that good governance is pivotal to ensuring that the 4P principle is executed in a transparent and accountable manner.

“To facilitate genuine partnership, it is important for member states to develop national physical plans that clearly identify opportunities for co-investments from the private sector,” he said.

He further called upon the international community to adopt Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) indicators as the basis for financing and investing in cities.

“More importantly, I call upon multilateral financial institutions to provide financing and grants to enable the private sector to mobilise resources to help us achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he added.

Moreover, he underscored that humanity should be the core value of urban planning and sustainable development.

He pointed out that Malaysia’s recent progress has been built on a solid partnership with a vibrant business community.

“Together, we have upgraded informal settlements and provided affordable housing and basic services to ensure that no one is left behind in our urbanising world,” he said.

The 12th World Urban Forum brought together ministerial representatives from 84 countries, four heads of state, and 1,359 city mayors or representatives, attracting a total of 28,000 participants.

Established in 2001 by UN-Habitat, the forum aims to share strategies among countries for addressing urbanisation challenges and collaboratively develop sustainable development solutions.

The press statement is issued by Ministry of Housing and Local Government