The Blue Way for SMEs in Asia and the Pacific 25 November 2025 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) are preparing a project proposal to accelerate SME investments in the blue economy across Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. This webinar aims to: Validate project design and proposed components with national and local stakeholders. Identify priority sectors, project locations, and investment opportunities for SME-led blue economy initiatives. Strengthen stakeholder engagement, including government agencies, SMEs, financial institutions, private investors, and civil society. Explore financing mechanisms, including blended finance and catalytic capital, to support SME transition. Review successful models for engaging SMEs such as BlueInvest Europe, initial experience from the SME BlueImpact Asia pilot and regional best practices. At ADB this is initiated by the Sustainable Finance Practice Team under the Finance Sector Office with support from Environment Division (ADB/GEF Coordination Team); and for UNEP, this will be led by the Secretariat of the Coordinating Body for the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) with support from UNEP Finance Initiative and others. Program and Learning Materials 11/25/2025 Session / Activity Title Speaker(s) Presentations The Blue Way for Small and Medium Enterprises: Presentations Presentations during the consultation webinar: (i) Overview of the Concept Note; (ii) Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA); (iii) Thai… Welcome Remarks Welcome Remarks Introduces the SME BlueImpact Asia—a pilot blended finance platform that develops a pipeline of bankable SME projects and aggregates them into… Jennifer Romero-Torres Overview of the Concept Arun Abraham, ADB/GEF Senior Environment Specialist (Consultant), Climate Change, Resilience and Environment (CCRE) Cluster, ADB; Isabelle Vanderbeck, International Waters Task Manager, UNEP; Mahesh Pradhan, Coordinator, Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) Bankable blue economy business models across the value chain: Opportunities for SMEs Adam Brennan, Chief Sustainability and Communications Officer, Thai Union; Joan Fulton, Blue Finance Advisor, Finance4Blue Financial Institutions: Mobilizing private sector financing and financial intermediaries Karla Martinez Toral, Sustainable Blue Economy Coordinator, UNEP Finance Initiative; Richard Speak, Managing Director, Finance Earth Development Partners: Building the enabling environment Nancy Bermas, Integrated River Basin Management Project (IRBM) Regional Project Manager, PEMSEA; Prerna Saxena, Regional Investment Specialist – Asia and the Pacific, UN Capital Development Fund Q&A Roundtable sessions on project concept Thomas Kessler, Principal Finance Specialist (Disaster Insurance), ADB Disclaimer The views expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or by using the term “country” in this document, ADB does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. Event Coordinator/s Thomas Kessler Arun Abraham Related Full Agenda ADB Organizer/s Climate Change, Resilience, and Environment Cluster Finance Sector Office Partner Organization/s UNEP COBSEA Topics Climate Change Environment Finance