Chair Mareth Mok presents the Chairman's Summary Report, outlining the main emergent points, inter alia, the diversity in composition of and issues facing the region and the need for stakeholder involvement in the decision-making process. In his closing remarks, he expressed his deep gratitude to the Royal Government of Cambodia and the meeting organizers and thanked participants for their excellent input, valuable comments and suggestions, stating he is confident that the meeting's dialogue will be helpful to the WSSD.

In his closing statement, Kim Hak-Su, ESCAP Executive Secretary expressed his pleasure with the meeting's successful decisions and noted that the regional message and program adopted at Kitakyushu provide a roadmap for sustainable development for the next decade, urging the development of concrete programs for funding and implementation.

The Republic of Korea suggested priority areas for sustainable development activities, inter alia: developing a policy framework for stakeholder participation; addressing transboundary air pollution issues and desertification; and promoting the use of information and communication technology.

China outlined progress made in, and positive results arising from, its implementation of Agenda 21, which is China's development framework, and acknowledged poverty and inequity as key challenges. She noted the unfulfilled international commitments that undermined the attainment of sustainable development and, expressing hope that the WSSD could revitalize the Rio spirit, proposed ways to do so.

Japan (above) called for: the use of science and technology to reduce environmental impacts and manage natural disasters; full implementation of the Kitakyushu Declaration and the Kyoto Protocol; technology transfer and capacity building; South-South cooperation; addressing forest crimes such as illegal logging; development of trade rules for sustainable utilization; and improvement of environmental education programs.

Bhutan noted that the Asia Pacific subregional conferences show Rio commitments remain unfulfilled and stated that regional poverty is alarming. He endorsed the core principle of development, and the concept of "gross national happiness." He also noted that Bhutan has drafted a national environmental strategy and established an environmental trust fund.

Nepal described commitments to: transboundary regional conservation; experimental reserves; ecotourism and service sector contributions to poverty alleviation; and tax incentives for cleaner vehicles. He expounded on reliance on and vulnerability of mountain ecosystems, and the need for their sensitive management.

Reminding delegates that the Asia-Pacific region has more than half the world's population, India said the region has a responsibility to ensure the WSSD process is more action-oriented and meaningful. He highlighted: the eradication of poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease; appropriate pricing for fuels and proper valuation of natural resources; cost-effective technologies related to recycling and waste minimization; and the North's ecological debt.

Thailand described domestic activities toward implementation of Agenda 21, and identified remaining challenges, such as addressing sustainable development in the midst of globalization. He emphasized poverty reduction and job creation at the grassroots level, and called for creation of a compensation mechanism for damages to the environment and to quality of life.

Kyrgyzstan emphasized the vulnerable and unstable nature of mountainous habitats, which is manifested in natural disasters such as floods and mudslides. He said problems associated with desertification and land degradation are the most important concern for the Central Asian countries, and called for debt-for-nature swaps in the region. He suggested that one factor feeding terrorism networks is failure to implement concepts from the Rio conference.

Armenia highlighted transboundary issues of regional and global consequence, urging cooperation, and noted that 2003 is the year of freshwater, urging the development of a regional strategy particularly addressing transboundary waterways. He highlighted his government's action program for poverty reduction and called for: market reforms; technical assistance to post-industrial countries; external debt relief in return for program development; and the redistribution of globalization benefits.

Bradnee Chambers, United Nations University, highlighted UNU's role as providing a forum for informal dialogue among UN member states and key stakeholders, and described the "Interlinkages" research initiative and their work on urban centers.

The Asia-Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development stated that research findings indicate women bear the worst effects from activities such as industrial logging, commercial fishing, intensive use of pesticides in agriculture, toxic waste dumping and nuclear testing. She discussed the domestic burdens of women, threats to food security and urban migration for employment.

Kanta Kumari, Global Environment Facility (GEF), elaborated on their financial situation, and said that new responsibilities and funding for the GEF provide expanded opportunities for work in the Asia-Pacific region toward overcoming environmental challenges. She highlighted new work in the region on integrated ecosystem management, and expressed hope that the GEF will serve as a catalyst in forging partnerships among, inter alia, governments, NGOs, the private sector and indigenous peoples.

Adelina D. Ekawati, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), noted ASEAN's mandate to coordinate all regional activities implemented by other organizations in the region and highlighted the ASEAN vision 20/20, which envisions a Clean and Green ASEAN. She also pointed to constraints in terms of financial, technical, capacity and human resources in implementing Agenda 21, but also pointed to achievements made in the area of environmental protection.

Yukiko Oda, Kitakyushu Forum on Asian Women (KFAW) noted that the integration of gender equality is considered by this region as a separate, crosscutting issue, and emphasized that sustainable development issues affect women differently, for example, the disproportionate loss of jobs as a result of disasters. She urged that integration and mainstreaming of gender is crucial for the achievement of sustainable development.

Steve Iddings, World Health Organization described various initiatives that focus on integrating health and environmental concerns into national planning for sustainable development, such as the Healthy Cities Movement and environmental health impact assessment projects. Along with Bangladesh, he expressed great concern regarding dangerous levels of arsenic in groundwater in the Asian and Southeast Asian region.