Instituto Ethos

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Sustainable business linkages in the production chains

Diogo Cosentino

Theme panel 6 of the 2006 International Conference gathered for a discussion of projects and models to create sustainable business linkages in the production chains the speakers Claudio Boechat, project manager for the Andrade Gutierrez Center of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at FDC; Christiane Stepanek, executive officer of the Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Doris Thurau, director of German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ); Elson Valim, executive director at the Dom Cabral Foundation; and Arnaldo Flaks, director of the Linkages Project.

The concept and relevance of production chains in the construction of sustainable linkages were the points addressed by Valim and Oded Grajew, chairman of the Advisory Board of the Ethos Institute. They both addressed the creation of linkages between transnational corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises.

According to Boechat, “the linkage can only be sustainable if the production chain is also sustainable.” Such sustainability, in Boechat’s opinion, can only be reached through the investment and collaboration of all members of the production chain and its “production environment”, which is concerned with the environment and the society involved.

The GTZ director said that one of the main objectives of applying this concept is to have an environment focused on creating linkages through public policy favorable to transnational initiatives. Another complementary path is changing the internal market and civil society entities, making them more competitive and participative, and consequently more attractive to the international capital.

Flaks added to this information by saying that the Linkages Project is adapted to each situation, and this results in region-specific projects and improved benefits.
The UNCTAD representative presented the problem of globally creating sustainable linkages, and the function of her entity, which used to work with public administrators, but has now been working more closely with the private sector. Stepanek pointed out, among other major problems that come up when adopting this concept, that of “non qualification of small and medium-sized enterprises (on the part of the government) to take advantage of the opportunities to create linkages.”

When asked if the private sector would be, according to the way the project was proposed, the main actor in a scenario of social change, the UNCTAD director said that the concept presupposes a collaborative participation among the society sectors, establishing Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), with the participation of the civil society. “The idea is that each actor should do what it does best, and the role of UNCTAD and proposals like the Linkages Project is to create platforms for the sectors to work together.” She also explained that one key condition for the proposal to be successful is the permanent dialogue between the public and private sectors.