Energy efficiency and cuts on greenhouse gas emissions have become vital to sustainable development of human beings, participants at a regional round-table agreed on Tuesday.

The round-table, with the theme "Is green industry the next engine of growth for Asia and Pacific", was held as part of the general conference of the UN Industrial Development Organization.

The agreement was reached by representatives from not only the public sector but also the private sector at the round-table, which drew senior government officials, industrialists, entrepreneurs and academics.

They agreed that human beings are now in the midst of a new industrial revolution, which should both increase productivity to improve the quality of human life and safeguard the planet that human beings live on.

But immaturity of green industry technology and lack of funds in developing countries are hampering this new industrial revolution.

To redress the problems, the round-table participants agreed that all concerned parties must cooperate instead of relying only on governments, enterprises or international agencies like the United Nations.

The participants believed that green technology has kept maturing and green industry will have great market potentials and people should therefore change their approach toward green technology and green industry.

Green industry technology should not only come from western countries, participants suggested, and all countries should contribute their guts and wits to facilitate this new revolution.

The participants also warned the public that one-time investment may look costly but people should evaluate the investment from a long-term and overall perspective.

At the round-table conference were such enterprises as the Philips Electronics of India, Waste Management Siam Ltd. of Thailand, KC Tech Co. Ltd. of the Republic of Korea, VA Tech Wabag Ltd. of India, and Trina Solar Ltd. of China.

(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2009)