WBCSD member companies have a combined annual turnover of more than 5 trillion USD, and their products and services touch the lives of about 2.5 billion people every day. Imagine the possibilities if even a portion of this business energy is harnessed to transform the lives of the world's poorest people.

This premise forms the basis for Business for Development, a new WBCSD report that makes the business case for sustainable development by illustrating how the private sector is taking an active role in the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Some 250 people packed a hotel conference center here in Mexico City to hear Professors Stu Hart and CK Prahalad and a host of Mexican government officials, corporate executives, and social entrepreneurs talk about the business and social opportunities represented by the base of the pyramid. The workshop builds on the broader BOP conference held last December in San Francisco by encouraging participants to translate concepts into local contexts.