Chairman Chey Discusses 'Social Value' Cooperation with UNDP Administrator: "Global Challenges Must Be Solved with Businesses"

Chairman Chey Proposes UNDP Participation in 'Social Value Festa'

Administrator De Croo: "Collaboration with Korean Companies Essential for AI and Climate Action"

Chey Tae-won, Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), met with the newly appointed Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on May 22 to discuss expanding the role of businesses and potential cooperation for creating social value in addressing global issues such as regional extinction, polarization, and the climate crisis.

Chairman Chey Tae-won of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (right) and Alexander De Croo, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), are posing for a commemorative photo. Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry announced that Chairman Chey met with Alexander De Croo, the new UNDP Administrator, at the KCCI headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, for a formal meeting on this day.

UNDP is the official executive agency under the United Nations (UN) responsible for planning and managing projects for economic and social development in developing countries worldwide. Administrator Alexander De Croo, who took office in December last year, previously served as Prime Minister of Belgium. The meeting was arranged to coincide with his official visit to Korea from May 21 to 22. Representing the KCCI were Chairman Chey and Lee Hyung-hee, Vice Chairman of the Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Vice Chairman of SK Inc., while the UNDP side included Administrator De Croo and Anne Juepner, Director of the Seoul Policy Centre, alongside other key officials from both sides.

During the meeting, Chairman Chey emphasized the importance of the corporate sector in navigating complex global crises. He stated, "Today's multifaceted global challenges such as regional extinction, polarization, and the climate crisis cannot be solved solely by governments or international organizations," adding, "I hope that by combining the KCCI's capacity for action with UNDP's global network, we can create meaningful change based on the shared language of social value."

In particular, Chairman Chey mentioned the upcoming 3rd Korea Social Value Festa, the country's largest sustainability exchange event organized by KCCI in September, and invited the UNDP to participate. He proposed, "Let's co-organize a global session aligned with UNDP's strategy to broaden the consensus."

Administrator De Croo outlined the key strategic initiatives currently being pursued by UNDP, stating, "Cooperation with private companies is essential in major areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation, climate action, governance, and sustainable finance," and urged Korean companies, including SK, to take a more active interest in UNDP's diverse public-private partnership activities.

Since assuming office as UNDP Administrator in December last year, De Croo has reportedly shown significant interest in finding ways to combine the private sector's innovative capabilities and executional power with global development cooperation.

Cho Young-jun, Head of the Center for Sustainable Management at KCCI, said, "Korea is the first country to have transitioned from an aid recipient to a donor nation, making it the optimal partner to provide an empirical development model," and added, "We hope this meeting will be an opportunity to explore concrete cooperation measures that bring together KCCI's efforts to spread social value, the innovative capacity of Korean companies, and the global network of UNDP."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.