摘要：On 7th June, Secretary General Mr. Zhang Jun moderated the Session “Science and Technology Innovation: Driving Sustainable Develop
On 7th June, Secretary General Mr. Zhang Jun moderated the Session “Science and Technology Innovation: Driving Sustainable Development and Accelerating the 2030 Agenda”, at the BFA International Science, Technology & Innovation Forum (ISTIF) 2025 Hong Kong Conference. Mr. Esko Aho, Former Prime Minister of Finland and Honorary Chairman of BFA ISTIF, Mr. Emil Bolongaita, Program Head of Knowledge Innovation and Solutions Program of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Mr. Song Yonghua, Rector of University of Macau and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart Cities, Mr. Christopher Chao, Vice President of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Mr. Youngsuk 'YS' Chi, President of Public Affairs of RELX and Chairman of Elsevier, Ms. Tang Limei, Scientist of Second Institute of Oceanography of MNR and other delegation were present.
Mr. Zhang Jun stated that BFA has always attached great importance to technological innovation and sustainable development, and promote international cooperation in positive, constructive, and pragmatic way. Technological innovation has become one of the important driving forces for sustainable development and should be able to further unleash the potentiality and function. The impressive performance of Asian countries on innovation in energy efficiency, clean energy, electric vehicles and other fields injects confidence and hope into the international community to accelerate the process of the SDGs.
Participants sparked spirited discussions on how to accelerating sustainable development through technological innovation in the great changes in the world and the fierce impact of trade and tariff wars. Participants agreed that we should stay on the right course, uphold multilateralism and the international system with the UN at the core, create favorable environment for international science and technology cooperation, and promote to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Mr. Esko Aho emphasized that sustainable development is a globally-shared goal, and horizontal modes and interdisciplinarity of cooperation on science and technology should be strengthened to cohesive forces of all countries. At the same time, international trade rules should be improved to enhanced policy predictability and avoid negative spillover effect on investments in sustainable development in tariff war. Mr. Youngsuk 'YS' Chi called for strengthening cross-border cooperation and pointed out that the SDGs have been widely accepted over the past 10 years, which gathered sufficient endogenous momentum. All sides should continue to work hard to promote implementation and break down artificial barriers of industries, sectors and geography.
Participants expressed that innovation and sustainable development must be placed in a more prominent position in national policies while abandoning short-sighted behavior, and strengthen policy guidance and support to form positive incentive effects. Based on experience of Finland, Mr. Esko Aho highlighted increasing policy anticipations and reserve sufficient time for technological innovation and transformation of enterprises. Ms. Tang Limei pointed out that China has technological innovation advantages in areas such as green hydrogen and controllable nuclear fusion, making important contributions to promoting the SDGs.
Participants stressed that partnership network for technological innovation and sustainable development must be established with an open, pragmatic and cooperative spirit by sharing technology, knowledge and best practices. Mr. Esko Aho, Mr. Emil Bolongaita and other panelists underlined to promote innovation cooperation among the governments, private sectors and academic institutions, increase investment jointly, clarify incentive scheme, and encourage various sectors of society to actively participate in practicing sustainable development.
Participants believed that advancing technologies should play an important role in promoting sustainable development, and funds, technology and capacity building supports for developing countries should be increased, for helping developing countries improve development in artificial intelligence, the Internet, clean energy and other fields and bridging the development gap. Mr. Song Yonghua, Mr. Emil Bolongaita, Mr. Christopher Chao and other panelists introduced good practices in education, development financing and technology research and application respectively, foregrounded academies and financial institutions should be put into a great play as the bridge, to strengthen support for startups and digital capacity building in developing countries with focusing on taking practical actions and pragmatic results.
This session enlightened that technological innovation is an important driving force of solving the lagging dilemma of the SDGs, with requires of breaking through the geopolitical and technological gap. The Boao Forum for Asia Innovation Report 2024 emphasized that with “technology inclusiveness” and “global collaboration” taking the place of the monopoly and unilateralism, digital, intelligent and green technologies will be able to become the "leverage solution" to 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The international community should work together to build a shared community of innovation for global science and technology.
来源：博鳌亚洲论坛
