The conference was organised by the chemicals company, BASF, and held at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Pudong, Shanghai. The results of a study commissioned by BASF to learn the economic, environmental and social effects of its own direct investment in Nanjing were released. The study was carried out by GTZ, (German Technical Co-operation), the international co-operation enterprise for sustainable development.

The day before the United Nation Global Compact Summit opened in China, the conference discussed the impact of foreign direct investment at a local level.

Heading the list of conference participants were Georg Kell, executive head of the United Nations Global Impact initiative, David Dollar, the World Bank’s country director for China and Mongolia, Dennis Pamlin, the WWF’s global policy advisor, and Peter Eigen, who is head of Transparency International, the global non-governmental anticorruption organisation.

The UN Global Impact involves the business sector in promoting universal values in the areas of labour, human rights and the environment.

Mr Nair chaired a panel discussion, “What can companies contribute to make globalisation through FDI sustainable?”

Professor Wang Zhile, director of the Research Centre on Transnational Corporations, which is part of China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), joined Messrs Dollar and Pamlin, in the panel discussion. Dr Bernd Blumenberg, president of BASF-YPC, Johnny Kwan, BASF director of China, and Jorg Hartman, executive director of GTZ, were also on the panel.

The Global Institute For Tomorrow is an independent social venture think tank dedicated to advancing understanding of the impacts of globalisation.