In her opening remarks, UN-Habitat Executive Director Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif stressed that “the private sector plays a key role in grasping the opportunity of well-managed and planned urbanization to improve living standards, economic prosperity and in eradicating poverty”. She further remarked that “through this dialogue series, UN-Habitat seeks to engage private sector partners and define new ways to achieve sustainable urbanization together”.

In his remarks, the Mayor of Mannheim, Dr. Peter Kurz, emphasized that “climate change, migration and digitalization pose major challenges for cities around the world. Only a comprehensive transformation of policy and business attitudes can succeed in meeting those challenges. This Global Strategic Dialogue addresses the question of how private sector opportunities can be better aligned with urban needs”.

To further cement the growing partnership between UN-Habitat and the City of Mannheim, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to strengthen collaboration towards implementation and reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda. Ms. Sharif was also accorded the special honour of signing the Golden Book of Mannheim.