Wal-Mart's Scott says retail jobs are good jobs

* Wishes had done more as CEO to promote retail jobs

* Says sustainable can mean lower costs

By Aarthi Sivaraman

NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters) - Lee Scott, the former chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) has a regret about his time at the helm of the world's biggest retailer -- not doing enough to promote the importance of retail jobs.

Speaking at the World Food Business Summit in New York on Friday, Scott, who is now chairman of Wal-Mart's executive committee, said that as he was leaving the CEO post, several people asked him if there was anything he had wanted to fully accomplish before his departure.

"The answer was, of course, one place I would have liked to have done more is helping people understand that Wal-Mart jobs, retail jobs in general, are good jobs," Scott said.

"They pay well and they offer extraordinary opportunities. But the fact is, you just can't do everything."

Scott served as Wal-Mart's CEO from January of 2000 through January of this year. He worked his way up to the top job after joining the retailer in 1979 as an assistant director of logistics.

But much of his time as CEO was marked by struggles as the discount retailer found itself under attack from labor groups and politicians who accused it of mistreating employees, paying low wages and not offering adequate health care coverage.