Alliance News | Global Investors and Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals have become a common language amongst countries, developing and developed alike. This has brought about the formationof a global collaborative network across sectors and practices. Shenzhen, as a pioneering city in innovation and entrepreneurship, has continuously increased its support for technological innovation and sustainable finance, and is the perfect ground for growing global collaborations. To better promote the exchange between innovative entrepreneurs and investors concerned with global sustainable development, China Alliance of Social Value Investment (Shenzhen)(CASVI), together with d.light, have come together to co-sponsor the “Investingin the Future: Innovation and Sustainable Development Investment” event.

The evening opened with welcoming speeches from Harry Wong, E&S Officer and global HRD from d.light, Jackie Stenson, Head of Innovation from UNLEASH, and Yu Fan, Secretary General from Shenzhen Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment.

The first panel discussion “Economic Growth X Sustainable Development” unfolded with Neil Yeoh, Forbes Columnist, and Advisor at Yale University moderating on investment opportunities for sustainable development in emerging markets. Panelists engaged in a flow of discussion, bringing in examples of investments making impact from their own experiences. Mana Impact Fund’s Han Xiao shared with the crowd about their investment on a company that designs phones for people with hearing and speaking disabilities. It is a perfect example of how to drive impact, solve social issues and be profitable as the same time. Village Capital’s Rachel Crawford brought the case of their incubation of a social start-up dedicated tobringing clean energy in Kenya, that eventually produced their products by working with a technology provider in China, further illustrating how the global collaborationnetwork works. Chemonics Asia Region Director Wayne Lifshitz and Spring Accelerator CEO also shared their experiences.

Harry Wong from d.light led the second panel discussion on Science and Tech Innovation X Enterprises Driving Changes. Starting with three open questions from the audience, panelists discussed about how innovation can drive sustainable development from various angles. Franck Nouyrigat, Co-founder of Recorp, Jessica Salinas, Associate Partner from Stat Zero, along with Chinese social entrepreneur and investor Tommy Lam, Partnerat Airmarket, and Philips China Region Government and Public Affairs Departmenthead Ying Xiao, exchanged opinions and shared their experiences from different backgrounds and cultures.

An evening packed with thought-provoking discussions and lively conversations, social entrepreneurs and investors took the opportunity to connect and network, further promoting exchange of ideas and extending the global collaboration network. There are still many challenges ahead on the road to achieving the SDGs, collaboration across all sectors, and countries is key to tackle these challenges.