On 7th February, ADB held a High-Level Investor Forum in Kuala Lumpur with a Keynote speech by YB Tuan Mohd Rafizi Bin Ramli, Minister of Economy, Malaysia. The event was part of the broader ADB TA6619 - Marine Aquaculture, Renewable Energy, Reefs and Ecotourism for Ecosystem Services, or in shortform as MARES, that has been exploring how coastal and island states can blend marine renewable energy options with other, multi-function energy uses (from aquaculture to eco-tourism) to more effectively protect and draw benefit from their marine estates. During the forum, the winner of an international competition to highlight how marine renewable energy can power a wide range of marine and maritime initiatives in coastal and island states was announced. Eight project representatives pitched their proposals and networked with investors and a range of senior government representatives prior to the event. Interestingly, half of the teams represented had operating business. The winning project – called SUBIC BLUE – aspires to introduce the first aquarium fish farm and coral nursery in the Philippines, producing large quantities of tropical fish for sale and for placement back onto protected reefs. They also plan to provide solar energy for the project and the local grid. The judges selected this project as the winner due to its strong thinking on integrated multifunction development, with marine renewable energy as an integrated component, its robust business model, and its potential to be replicated and therefore scale – another key theme at the conference. Rear Admiral (retd) Nick Lambert of Blue Economy solutions company NLA International, who had flown in from the UK to deliver a conference address, commented: “I have been actively promoting the Blue Economy concept for over a decade, but this conference provided me with further confidence that we are approaching a tipping point where we will move from high-level discussion to much more concrete action. It was fantastic to see so many diverse participants in the room – government representatives, investors, academics, and brilliant innovators – all finding such common ground and looking for ways to work with and support each other. I am going home with the Minster’s closing comments – that we must all commit to doing something as a result of this conference – ringing in my ears.” ADB Chief of Energy Sector Group, Dr Priyantha Wijayatunga, closed the forum with a call to action to expand the multifunction MARES approach through ADB’s new solutions focused operating model. Drawing attention to one of the presenter’s comments “action is attraction”, Dr Priyantha called the 150 participants attention to the next steps after the event including capability development for better planning of marine spaces for the benefits of all users and implementing ADB new solutions for financing the New Ocean Energy Economy. Forum recording can be accessed through the MARES dataroom. The MARES project is led by Stephen Peters, SDSC-ENE.