First MSME Green Financing Workshop was held at The Maldives National University

Prevention of Marine Litter in the Lakshadweep Sea (PROMISE) is a project supported by the European Union under the SWITCH Asia Programme. The project aims to promote Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) through the prevention and leakage of wastes from land-based sources into the Lakshadweep Sea. 

One of the key objectives of the PROMISE project is to enable access to finance for Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the tourism sector such as guesthouses, liveaboards and restaurants to implement high-cost waste minimization options. Consequently, a number of MSME Green Finance workshops is planned each project partner country, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and India. The workshops attempt to provide information to MSMEs on Green Finance terminology, ecosystem and access to finance activities. 

The first MSME Green Finance Workshop was held on Tuesday, 9^th February 2023, at The Maldives National University. Minister of Higher Education his Excellency Dr. Ibrahim Hassan inaugurated the workshop. In his speech he has highlighted that the plastic waste that accumulates in the ocean as marine litter is a tangible and urgent environmental problem that needs to be addressed. He acknowledged the ongoing efforts of stakeholders to minimize single use plastic aligning the government’s policy on phasing out single use plastics. In addition to MSMES and workshop participants, the opening ceremony of the workshop was attended by relevant governmental ministries and institutions, NGOs, local bodies and academia.

The workshop was attended by tourism MSMEs, financial institutions, technology providers and relevant associations. Financial institutions Bank of Maldives, SME Development Finance Corporation (SDFC) and Maldives Financing and Leasing Company (MFLC) participated and shared information on existing green financing schemes including loans and grants. In addition, technology providers STELCO and VAM Co presented their available products and service portfolio for green solutions.

In addition, the final policy roundtable (Public Showcasing) meeting of the Project PROMISE was held at the Maldives National University on 07^th February 2023. As part of the project, a series of policy roundtables are organized with an aim to prototype policy solution mechanisms for pressing challenges in the prevention of marine litter in each project country and two policy roundtable meeting has been held in Maldives last year.  The final policy round table meeting of Maldives has successfully concluded today with the showcasing and refining of the policy solution prototypes. The session was very productive with insightful discussions on four solution prototypes for tackling marine Litter. In this session, stakeholders from relevant ministries and policy makers, other governmental bodies/institutions, waste management service providers, developmental partners, NGOs, local bodies, and academia participated. The refined solutions will be shared with policy makers and policy institutions for their consideration and action.