I am pleased to send greetings to the Sixth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific.

In spite of the Asian financial crises of the late 1990s and the recent triple food, fuel and financial crises, the countries of Asia and the Pacific have continued to achieve good economic growth. The number of people living in absolute poverty has declined from 1.5 billion to 979 million in 15 years –all the more impressive given that the region's population grew by 800 million over the same period.

But there is more work to do. Hundreds of millions of people in the region still live in poverty, without access to clean water and sanitation, health services or educational opportunities. In some cases, economic growth has come at a high price to the environment.

As we face the growing consequences of climate change, no country can take the path of developing now and cleaning up later. We can not afford to follow separate strategies for development and sustainability; we must tackle both simultaneously.

This was the driving force behind ESCAP countries' adoption of the “Green Growth” strategy in 2005, which you are now implementing and operationalizing. I wish you great success in your efforts to translate declarations into plans and plans into action.

In the run-up to Rio + 20 in 2012, I urge you to show the way for developing countries all over the world to move towards green growth and usher in a new era of sustainable development. I wish you all the best in your deliberations.