Fourth Preparatory Webinar for the SIDS Global Business Network Forum 2024

Webinar: "Banking on SIDS: Investment Strategies for Small Island Business Prosperity"

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18 March, 2024, 7 pm (New York time).

Registration

Register here now.

Background

Spearheaded by the United Nations Office of the High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS), the Small Island Developing States Global Business Network (SIDS-GBN) is a platform and resource-hub for the facilitation of private sector partnerships that contribute to the sustainable development of SIDS.

The SIDS-GBN arose from the Third International Conference on SIDS in 2014 when OHRLLS organized a two-day private sector forum on the sidelines of the Conference.

The establishment of the SIDS-GBN was formally recognized by the General Assembly through its resolution A/RES/71/225 which stated “Noting with appreciation the establishment of the Small Island Developing States Global Business Network to share best practices and lessons learned among business sectors in small island developing States, and its contribution to the sustainable development of small island developing States, and encouraging its coherence with the Small Island Developing States Partnership Framework.”

The next SIDS-GBN Forum will take place in 2024, the same year as the fourth International Conference on SIDS. At the fourth Conference, a new Programme of Action for SIDS will be adopted to guide a new agenda for sustainable development in SIDS. Both the Conference and the Forum have preparatory processes that are running up until the events take place.

This provides a unique opportunity to review the first decade of the SIDS-GBN and set the direction for its next decade. It also allows for the GBN to feed into discussions on the new SIDS agenda. The parallel processes also make it possible for the GBN to hear from the private sector on the new SIDS agenda.

As part of the preparatory process of the SIDS-GBN Forum 2024, OHRLLS will organize a series of preparatory webinars and consultations to gather stakeholders to discuss priorities and thematic areas for the Forum.

Objectives

The objectives of the meetings are to:

• Inform the private sector on the SIDS4 process and the SIDS-GBN Forum 2024 process.
• Explore with the private sector how their priorities could align with the sustainable development of SIDS in the coming decade.
• Identify stakeholders’ priorities for thematic areas at the SIDS-GBN Forum 2024 and the private sector roundtable at SIDS4.
• Provide recommendations on how SIDS can better build public-private partnerships that contribute to their sustainable development and the new SIDS agenda.
• Share best practices of public-private partnerships that contribute to the sustainable development of SIDS and can be showcased at the SIDS4 Conference.

About webinar 4

Banking on SIDS: Investment Strategies for Small Island Business Prosperity

Access to finance is not just a necessity for SIDS to foster economic growth, but it also serves as a lifeline for their continued sustainable development. From economic diversification to local empowerment and green transition, strategic investments are crucial for implementing the new SIDS agenda.

The fourth webinar will explore strategies for mobilizing Foreign Direct Investment and Equity Investment into businesses in SIDS, particularly SMEs, and on how policymakers can facilitate this. The webinar will focus on the following areas:

• Investor hesitancy: The webinar will showcase which hesitancies investors have towards businesses in SIDS from the perspective of investors and SIDS.
• Success factors: The webinar will highlight what makes SMEs in SIDS investible for Foreign Direct Investment and Equity Investment.
• Investment Strategies: The webinar will showcase successful investment strategies with a focus on MSMEs in SIDS.

Programme

Concept note

Find the concept note here.

Partners:

This webinar is organized in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.