Dr. Sayed Yahya Akhlaqi, Deputy Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization attends in the side event at the 78th Session of the UNESCAP Commission on “From GDP to well-being and sustainability – Means and Measures

Dr. Sayed Yahya Akhlaqi, Deputy Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization participated in the side event at the 78^th Session of the UNESCAP Commission on “From GDP to well-being and sustainability – Means and Measures” held in a hybrid mod on May 26, 2022. The event was sponsored and hosted by the Government of New Zealand under the theme of “moving beyond GDP”. During the meeting the participants discussed the experiences, challenges, and opportunities to improve, complement and use beyond GDP measures to inform development policy and to identify the concrete initiatives which could be taken by Governments and international organizations going forward.

In his statement Deputy Secretary General Dr. Sayed Yahya Akhlaqi informed the Forum on progressing projects among the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Member States. The Deputy Secretary General underlined the priorities for implementing the Agricultural, Industrial, Transport and Special Economic Zone areas to enhance the GDP and welfare of the peoples of the Member States. He shared different perspectives on how the ECO Member countries are developing and using measures which go beyond traditional GDP.

The meeting outlined the global and regional initiatives to support the measurement of sustainable development beyond economic growth. The meeting also overviewed the opportunities for furthering the development and uptake of growth measurements beyond gross domestic product in Asia and the Pacific.