Chambers of commerce are the ones called to promote public-private articulation in the implementation of policies that encourage and facilitate development, and they are the ones who can convene and make attractive markets available to SMEs. Chambers can jointly build solutions to the problems of the business sector and promote structural transformations in the business model to make them sustainable and productive.

I have no doubt that there are more and more of us who believe that a sustainable business action over time is not only the one that is more productive, but the one whose success also depends on the achievement of a triple impact: economic, social and environmental. I am talking about companies with purpose, those that produce better, that produce more with less and that do so hand in hand with the communities in which they operate, companies that, for example, are efficient while closing gender gaps and contributing to mitigating the effects of climate change.

In Latin America we need governments and businesses to work in cooperation to maintain the economy and jobs. More than 60% of MSMEs have lower incomes than they did before the pandemic and this directly impacts households. In developing countries, families have lost 1.5% of their income, just because of the increase in maize and wheat. As a business community we must be a source of solutions to solve today's challenges through innovation, but innovation cannot happen in a vacuum.

Transition from an extractive economy to a productive and sustainable economy, strengthening the economic and social integration of Latin America and the Caribbean, inserting the country into globalization and projecting Colombia as a competitive, sustainable and peaceful tourist destination.

What we are asking companies and businesses to do is to see these national climate action plans and Sustainable Development Goals not just as environmental plans, but as real business sources for sustainable solutions.

The business strategies of the 21st century must incorporate innovation, inclusion and sustainability, and although it may sound challenging to pursue all three simultaneously, their objectives complement each other. Without innovation, sustainability (economic, political, social and environmental) is impossible and inclusion difficult.

With inclusion, companies and economies are more innovative as it generates diverse thinking and makes workers more open to new technologies and more sustainable. Greater sustainability brings greater stability, which helps companies and nations become more innovative and inclusive.