(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) Colombia, Eswatini and Malawi on Thursday pitched nearly 600
million U.S. dollars' worth of high-impact, investment-ready
projects in sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture and digital
connectivity at the 7th edition of the SDG (Sustainable Development
Goals) Investment Fair, trend reports citing xinhua .
Representatives from governments and the private sector gathered
at the UN headquarters in New York for the Dec. 1-2 event to
encourage investments in the SDGs.
Founded in 2018, the fair has become a leading platform for SDG
investment, presenting over 10 billion dollars' worth of projects
in infrastructure, green energy and agribusiness. The SDG
investment destinations span 20 countries across all regions.
Building on global efforts to boost climate financing at the UN
Climate Change Conference in Egypt, the fair also features an event
to promote clean energy investments in Colombia. These will make a
significant contribution to the country's transition to renewable
energy, while improving social conditions in La Guajira and other
regions of the country, according to a press release of the UN
Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Scaling up private investment is crucial to achieve the SDGs.
Despite a rebound of foreign direct investment in 2021, private
investment in infrastructure in developing countries remains low
relative to historical averages, whereas the least developing
countries have the lowest rates of investment in sustainable
development and that remains a key challenge. The fair is the
platform to address it, the release said.
'Private investment flows into relevant SDG sectors are still
largely failing to reach the ground in developing countries that
need it the most,' said Assistant Secretary-General for Economic
Development Navid Hanif. 'We have put a strong focus on this
edition of the fair on how to mobilize private investment in least
developed countries.'
Against this backdrop, the fair convened a policy discussion to
explore unique challenges and success stories of the least
developed countries in attracting private capital for sustainable
infrastructure, leading up to the 5th United Nations Conference on
the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) next year.
'The SDG Investment Fair ... has helped the Kenyan Government to
showcase priority investment opportunities in Kenya across multiple
sectors to a global audience of investors, financiers and technical
experts,' said Stephen Jackson, UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya,
one of the panelists joining the fair.
Hosted by the Financing for Sustainable Development Office of
the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the SDG
Investment Fair facilitates a range of activities in New York City,
as well as capacity building at the national level to enhance the
investment readiness and bankability of projects and SDG financing
vehicles in participating countries.