Experts from Asian nations came together in Seoul last week to discuss priorities for the world’s future development agenda.

The Korea Development Institute and the UNDP Seoul Policy Centre held a conference on June 13 to bring together experts from 13 Asian countries to gain their perspectives on development priorities post-2015.

The event co-sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Korea University aimed to address the post-2015 agenda, as this is when the current global development framework, the Millennium Development Goals, will expire.

World leaders are soon to discuss how the new framework can address new global challenges such as climate change, urbanization and rising inequality.

“The world is changing. The future framework global development must reflect these changes,” said UNDP Seoul Policy Centre Director Anne-Isabelle Degryse-Blateau. “The rise of Asia, economic challenges in the West and global challenges like climate change mean that the partnership that underpins a new development framework to come after the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015 must be broader than ever. It must also reflect the aspirations of the poor and marginalized, who are demanding to be heard.”

The report from the conference should feed into the global post-2015 planning process, to help ensure that Asian voices are part of the debate.