region. Five Ambassadors, each from Cambodia, Philippine, Indonesia, Egypt and Pakistan and two Vice Ambassadors of each from Thailand and Myanmar attended the opening ceremony. H.E Kim, Soo Hyun, the Vice Minister of Environment of Korea and Jakob Tobing, the Ambassador of Republic of Indonesia gave respectively congratulatory remarks.

In the warm welcoming of the Second Seoul Initiative Leadership Programme on Green Growth for the implementation of SINGG, H.E Kim, Soo Hyun underlined the importance on adopting the 2005 Seoul Initiative Network on Green Growth - a very significant aspect to ameliorate the current serious environmental degradation status present in the Asia-Pacific region.

30 officials from 19 countries including Egypt and Tunisia in Africa for this occasion as well as those in the Asia-Pacific region participated in the Leadership Programme.

The Programme consisted of workshops, field trips, case studies, country report presentations and group discussions. The workshop dealt in promoting essence on Green Growth, in transferring the economic instruments, in displaying the climatic change and so much more. Participants took numerous field trips down to: Transportation Pollution Research Center, National Institute of Biological Resources, Dae Duck Electronics Co. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. In addition to the workshop, empirical case studies were also provided. More specifically, they had a chance to visit Mapo Resource Recovery Plant and Resource Recirculation Exhibition center, Recycling Facilities of Samyang Corporation, Sudokwon Landfill Site and Sihwa Lake. Furthermore, participants presented current environmental issues of each of their countries. The content also consisted of how to manage the country-specific Green Growth concerns and how to forge ahead the issue from thereabout. In group discussions, participants were split into four groups whose discussion topics were on 'economic development and environmental protection', 'economic instruments of Green Growth', 'sustainable infrastructure' and 'role of stakeholders.' During active and dynamic discussion sessions, they had the opportunity to share and to comprehend a deeper discernment on each topic.

Participants sought ways to achieve Green Growth throughout the Programme by looking at the environmental challenges faced in Korea in respect to economic growth and to both successful and failed stories. They studied economic instruments that incorporate the concept on from environmentalism to economy. They also visited industries which represent a value on economic benefits by implementing the instruments. In particular, they showed a great interest in the coexistence of industry and environment, such as the waste recycling industry and hazardous waste treatment facilities of the electronic industry. Those industries appreciate the economic benefits derived from positive symbolic image created by their eco-friendly practices and by their pro-environment efforts.

As representative officials who have to fulfill a responsibility and to implement policies of a country, all of the participants could recognize once again the importance of Green Growth and their role to achieve it. They are supposed to work hard to foster Green Growth when they return to their counties and the Asia-Pacific region will make a steady progress towards Green Growth.