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Implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) unarguably demands huge financial investments. However, the United Nations has acknowledged the huge financial gap militating against the implementation of the SDGs worldwide, leading experts to question the possibility of complete implementation of the goals by their terminal dateline of 2030. While the bulk of the finance currently outlaid on the SDGs comes from traditional sources including foreign direct investments (FDIs), there is the need to focus more attention on developing and exploiting impact investments that are more suitable for financing development programmes and projects. In this chapter, the SDG implementation profiles of the 12 Arab West Asia countries concerning the five most targeted SDGs were evaluated and sustainable finance issues were discussed. Secondary data were retrieved from World Bank's DataBank. The data were descriptively analyzed. Based on the profiles generated, debt relief is put forward as a possible impact investment mechanism suitable for funding the SDGs. Specifically, this chapter recommends that outright cancellation of debts based on the debt-for-SGD swap could serve as some of the impact investments needed to boost the global drive for a developed, peaceful, and just world.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) promotes society, reduces risk, and encourages ethical business practices. Due to its relevance, we study how CSR influences firms' sustainable development. We analyze data from 427 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed firms from 2008 to 2022. The Refinitiv environmental and social score is used to measure CSR, whereas for firms' sustainable development we rely on corporate sustainable growth rate (SGR) and market-based metrics. The analysis employs various econometric techniques, including ordinary least square, fixed effect regression, two-stage least square, generalized method of moment, and simultaneous quantile regression. The results indicate that CSR has a positive and significant effect on firms' sustainable development across all models. This relationship supports the notion that socially responsible business can contribute to long-term financial sustainability in line with “stakeholder theory”, indicating that companies should accommodate the concerns of various stakeholders, including society and the environment, to achieve sustainable development. We evaluate how the conditional distributions of SGR and firms’ value are affected by CSR, categorizing them into high, moderate, and low regimes. The quantile regression estimates indicate that the effect of CSR is more pronounced at upper quantiles, followed by moderate and low regimes. These findings underscore the importance of considering CSR in assessing the SGR and enterprises market value. We also confirm that our results are robust under range of different econometrics' methods. Finally, we enlighten current literature, and our research has useful policy implications for management and investors.

Due to its contribution to poverty reduction, which is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, inclusive finance is an issue of discussion. By using a bibliometric analysis approach, this study conducts performance analysis and keyword co-occurrences analysis under VOS viewer to synthesize the characteristics and essential dimensions of financial inclusion in Asia. This research studies 1,072 articles contributed by 1,928 authors, during the years 2005–2022. Numerous figures and networks are provided in order to comprehend publication trends, influential authors and their affiliations and countries, influential publications, and keyword occurrences. Six clusters were discovered, and financial inclusion is in the same cluster as financial literacy and financial service. This research will provide valuable insights for governments, regional authorities, and academic researchers, enabling them to enhance their comprehension of Asian financial inclusion and identify prospective avenues for future research. Ahead of this research, a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of financial inclusion in Asian countries has not been conducted, as far as the authors’ knowledge goes. The study offers a comprehensive overview of financial inclusion in Asia and reveals insights into the field’s crucial messages. Future researchers can use this knowledge to obtain a deeper understanding of the field.

China’s foreign aid efforts in Africa remain contentious. Chinese foreign aid tends to be different from “traditional” development assistance in that it frequently involves firms as the implementing agents of projects. Firms bring unique resources to public–private partnerships (PPPs) formed with government agencies, but their possible self-interested nature also gives rise to concerns over their development impact. Yet, on a larger scale, little is known about the characteristics of Chinese PPPs in foreign aid. Using project-level data available for 1,308 Chinese aid projects in 50 countries across Africa, the author characterizes the projects undertaken by firms and government agencies in a PPP and contrasts them to those executed by Chinese government agencies without firm involvement. This exploratory data analysis suggests that important differences apply, as Chinese PPPs tend to target different sustainable development goals (SDGs), work on the basis of distinct aid conditions, and implement projects that tend to be larger than those that are solely run by government agencies. Such observations raise important questions of an ethical, theoretical, and international nature, and warrant further research. The author develops a research agenda that aims at issues particularly important for business ethics scholars, organization theorists, and international business scholarship.

This chapter describes the present state and the trends in the Polish information and communications technology (ICT) sector, which today is considered to be one of the most progressively developing part of the national economy. Special attention is given to economic background, ICT employment and governmental policy. Some forecasts for future development were also proposed.

The purpose of this chapter is to present the background, dynamics and future trends in the Polish ICT sector.

The statistical data (Statistics Poland, Eurostat), market reports and scientific articles were analysed. Microsoft Excel and QGIS software was used to analyse the data and visualise the results.

Polish ICT market has stable fundaments, good infrastructure, qualified workers and a good location. Despite the developed infrastructure, e-commerce and e-administration usage is relatively low compared to the average level of EU27. The Polish ICT market specialises in software implementation, IT outsourcing and computer game development. The Polish ICT market development is associated with cloud computing, outsourcing, e-commerce, cybersecurity, big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and Industry 4.0. Poland is also in the top 10 countries for IT outsourcing worldwide, with the leading ICT centers in Warsaw, Cracow and Wrocław.

The growth of the ICT sector was (is) supported also by central programmes and government strategies: Operational Programme Digital Poland, Digital Competence Development Program and Cybersecurity Strategy. In the last 2 years, the development of ICT was also boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Market reports and forecasts show that the sector's future development will be related to artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0 and data analytics and financed by private business and central government contracts. The increase in remote work will also be significant.