Country or Region: Pacific
Sector: Innovative Financing for Development
Client: European Commission
Date: January 2020 – June 2020
VJW international is pleased to announce the completion of the ‘Study on investment opportunities in the Pacific region – Towards a carbon-neutral, blue/green, circular, inclusive and sustainable future’. The assignment successfully provided a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the region as a whole (including Pacific Island Countries and Territories, PICTs), in particular in relation to its potential to attract European private investment. This has not been undertaken before, therefore the study is a first attempt to analyse the sustainable[1] investment landscape in the Pacific and the opportunities for the European Union (EU). It proposes a number of potential opportunities and provides clear recommendations for the EU to step up its regional and country-level response to support PICTs to fully seize and realise them.
This assignment delivered an overview of private investment drivers and barriers, the range of financial and non-financial instruments (including blended finance models) that will be able to catalyse private investment, and also a brief review of the regional policy frameworks, donor responses, alternative sources of finance (including domestic, climate and conservation finance, and public–private partnerships (PPPs)), as well as the role of the EU in relation to trade, investment and coordination with other donors and initiatives in the Pacific.
The project thoroughly examined the following sectors: energy, transport, water & sanitation, information & communication technologies, climate adaptive measures, sustainable private sector development (fisheries, agribusiness, tourism and financial services), as well as extractive businesses.
[1] Sustainable intended as conducive to a carbon-neutral, blue/green, circular, inclusive and sustainable future.