SME BlueImpact Asia: Financing Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises that Dominate the Blue Economy
27 January 2022

Healthy oceans are inextricably linked to global prosperity. Aside from helping to mitigate climate change, ocean ecosystems support the food security and livelihoods of billions of people. However, our oceans are under serious threat. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have a critical role in restoring ocean health as they represent 70% of employment and 90% of total enterprises in developing countries across all sectors of the Blue Economy. Yet, SMEs in Asia face an estimated $2 trillion finance gap.

As part of ADB’s first Healthy Oceans Tech and Finance Forum, this spotlight session presented SME BlueImpact Asia, a blended finance platform for SME Blue Economy projects jointly developed by ADB with UNEP and UNDP, leveraging the experience made by BlueInvest Europe, a similar platform recently launched by the European commission.

The session showcased the concept of the platform and how it can be implemented in Asia. To ensure that the SME BlueImpact Asia will reach its full potential and create the expected socio-economic, environmental, poverty reduction, and gender balance impact, stakeholders representing development partners, SMEs, and investors shared their perspectives and recommendations. The discussion covered factors critical to the success of this initiative, such as use of digital technology and de-risking strategies. Concrete initiatives were presented which confirm the presence of numerous Blue Economy SME projects that require financing and can be aggregated in a pipeline of bankable, scalable and replicable transactions across developing Asia. Various asset managers and investors have included Blue SME projects in their investment strategies and showed interest to support SME BlueImpact Asia by matching catalytic funding.

Program and Learning Materials
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Introduction Introduction
Thomas Kessler introduces the session.
Thomas Kessler
Welcome Remarks Welcome Remarks
ADB Director General Suzanne Gaboury in her welcome remarks highlighted the importance of mobilizing private sector financing for SMEs.
Suzanne Gaboury
Keynote Speech SMEs as Guardians of Ocean Health & Community Empowerment
Amb. Peter Thomson discusses the need for a systematic approach to financing Blue Economy SMEs.
Peter Thomson
SME BlueImpact Asia - Financing Small-Medium enterprises in the Blue Economy Concept of SME BlueImpact Asia
The presentation discusses the concept of SME BlueImpact Asia, including its objectives, features, governance structure, and metrics.
Michael Adams
From Concept to Implementation through Digitalization
The presentation discusses the key features of the digital finance platform for matching SMEs with private investors.
Kathleen O Leary
Panel – SME BlueImpact Asia Platform UNDP’s Aligned Initiatives & Support
Radhika Lal discusses why UNDP and UNEP are supportive of the BlueImpact initiative and how it fits into the programs of UNDP and UNEP.
Radhika Lal
Lessons Learned from BlueInvest
Andreea Strachinescu shares her insights on BlueInvest Europe, which was recently launched and is supervised and funded by the European Commission…
Andreea Strachinescu
Frameworks for Private Investor Participation
SFIA provides unbiased and credible policy recommendations and implementation support to countries in the region, particularly ASEAN countries.
Eugene Wong
Risk Management for BlueImpact Platform
This presentation discusses de-risking strategies applied by BlueImpact Asia to attract private investments for SMEs.
Joan Fulton
Operating a successful SME Lending platform
Kah Meng Wong shares his experience with Funding Societies in operating a P2P SME lending platform.
Kah Meng Wong
Panel – Public and Private Sector’s Perspectives Sustainable Seaweed Production & Commercial Infrastructure for Scalable Growth
The presentation showcases a project in the seaweed sector that is supported by blockchain technology.
Graham Clark
Panel: Public and Private Sector’s Perspectives Climate Change Mitigation Investment
Climate Fund Managers expressed their interest to invest in blue SMEs.
Georges Beukering
Impact Investing in SMEs
Eugene Tan discusses the opportunities for Blue Economy SMEs in the bond portfolio of Symbiotics.
Eugene Tan
Private Banking & the Sustainable Blue Economy
Based on a survey conducted by Credit Suisse, Marisa Drew shares the perspectives of private investors on financing blue SMEs.
Marisa Drew
Operating the OneBlue Accelerator & Fund
Sameer Narula talks about OneBlue platform which help a new generation of companies in the Blue Economy transform their relationship with the oceans…
Sameer Narula
Poverty-Environment Action Program and Climate Finance for the Blue Economy
Jonathan Gilman talks about the initiatives of UNDP/UNEP for supporting healthy oceans.
Jonathan Gilman
Q&A Jonathan Gilman
Closing Remarks Closing Remarks
Junkyu Lee provides key points discussed during the session.
Junkyu Lee
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Knowledge Product: Financing the Blue Economy Knowledge Product: Financing the Blue Economy
Blue Market Segments Heatmap Blue Market Segments Heatmap
Country Priorities Heatmap Country Priorities Heatmap
Defining the Boundaries – Methodology Defining the Boundaries - Methodology
Marine and River Ecosystems Marine and River Ecosystems
Fishing and Fisheries Fishing and Fisheries
Seafood Processing and Distribution Seafood Processing and Distribution
Aquaculture and Mariculture Aquaculture and Mariculture
Algaculture Algaculture
Pollution Control Pollution Control
Coastal and Marine Tourism Coastal and Marine Tourism
Coastal Resilience Coastal Resilience
Community Infrastructure Community Infrastructure
Green Ports and Green Shipping Green Ports and Green Shipping
Marine Renewable Energy Marine Renewable Energy
Blue Economy Metrics Blue Economy Metrics
Guide to Blue Economy Metrics Guide to Blue Economy Metrics
Blue Economy Financing Gap Blue Economy Financing Gap
Guide to Investors – Matchmaking Guide to Investors - Matchmaking
Corporate Investors Corporate Investors
Financial Investors Financial Investors
Finance Gap by Market Segments Finance Gap by Market Segments
Guide to Policy Recommendations Guide to Policy Recommendations
Investment Dossiers Investment Dossier - August One
Investment Dossier - Funding Society
Blue finance
MARI Oceans MARI Oceans
Making Seaweed Work for Everyone
Video by Sea Green and MARI Oceans

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

ADB Organizer/s

  • Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department

Topics

  • Environment
  • Finance