Eswaran stresses the need for private sector to do more for environment sustainability. Highlights QI Group's Water from Air as sustainable solution to water problems in developing countries.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (PRWEB) October 18, 2011
The lack of safe drinking water poses more of a serious challenge in the 21st century than the shortage of oil. Dato Vijay Eswaran, Executive Chairman of the QI Group of Companies who said this, was speaking at the first preparatory meeting of the World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability which convened here last week.
As the only member of the private sector invited to speak at the meeting which was a gathering of high profile government officials from around the world, he drew attention to the massive floods rampaging Thailand and other countries in the region and urged legislators to engage the private sector in building life-saving products of the future.
“Even during floods, the most significant challenge is to provide safe drinking water because at such times, this commodity is hard to come by. Packaged and bottled water also poses the biggest problem in terms of environmental hazard.
“The business of sustainability is the business of the future,” said Vijay who drew applause for his company’s innovative, water dispensing machine which extracts the humidity in the atmosphere and turns it into safe drinking water.
Vijay pointed out that QI Tower, his company’s 15-storey state-of-the-art operational headquarters in Petaling Jaya uses the system to supply drinking water for its 300 employees who work in the building.
“We are now testing this product in Abu Dhabi, Sudan and Saudi Arabia,” noted Vijay.
He said the QI Group has been embracing green technology from day one at all its approximately 20 locations worldwide and over 1,000 employees have all been educated on protecting the environment.
“Our green products emphasise recycling, saving energy, going paperless as well as adhering to other strict environmental-friendly policies. Our boutique Prana Resort in Koh Samui, Thailand is fully solar powered and has an ecological waste treatment plant. It is also a smoke-free resort with a productive hydroponic garden that supplies the resort’s acclaimed vegetarian restaurant.
On the Group’s other Malaysian operations, Vijay said once the permanent campus of its University venture in Ipoh, Perak – Quest International University Perak is built, it will be an entirely carbon neutral campus where students can only use bicycles or solar powered buggies for internal commute. All other vehicles would be prohibited to ensure the university has minimal carbon emissions.
The Group, which is developing an eco-tourism resort in Rompin, Pahang, has also left its entire ecology untouched in order to preserve the mangrove swamps and its surrounding rainforest.
“Business is not just about the highest profit margin anymore, it is about what we can give back.” he added.
On the objective of the conference, Vijay said, “We are here to set laws for the great majority of the planet that is in touch with the soil. What we need to do is engage with them. Technology is the way forward and any legislation must be inclusive of technology.”
Dato Vijay’s message to the conference was very much in line with the call by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who suggested the creation of a World Environment Organisation(WEO) to anchor global efforts to protect the environment. Datuk Seri Najib said existing systems to address the challenges of environmental sustainability had become too complicated, preventing countries, especially developing ones, from participating effectively.
The Prime Minister noted that a body like the WEO could facilitate the participation of developing countries in a more realistic and meaningful way.
The two-day meeting, organized by the United Nations Environment Programme, was attended by 34 judges and legal experts from 19 countries to discuss and exchange ideas on the world's law, justice and governance systems, and environmental sustainability.
It ended with the Kuala Lumpur Declaration which would be presented at the Rio+20 Conference in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012.
About Vijay Eswaran
Dr. Vijay Eswaran, the Executive Chairman of the multinational conglomerate, QI Group of Companies, is a successful entrepreneur, a bestselling author, well-known speaker and committed philanthropist. He is the author of four successful books including 'In the Sphere of Silence' that was translated into 6 languages.
A highly respected speaker, Dr.Vijay Eswaran has been a speaker and panelist at major international forums such as the World Economic Forum Summits and the Commonwealth Business Forum of the CHOGM for two years in a row.
He has been listed in Forbes Asia's annual list of Heroes of Philanthropy, is the recipient of the International Excellence in Business award from GOPIO (Global Organisation for People of Indian Origin) and was conferred with an honorary doctorate in management by SMC University in Switzerland.
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