NEWS
RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE
PUBLICATION
SUSTAINABLE
FINANCE
FORUM
CENTRAL
TO
NEW
INVESTMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
FOR
A
PROSPEROUS
SUSTAINABLE
COFFEE
TRADE
INDUSTRY
IN
CENTRAL
AMERICA
With
the
support
of
HIVOS,
Proyecto
CAMBio,
the
Central
American
Bank
for
Economic
Integration
(BCIE,
as
per
its
initials
in
Spanish)
and
RAMACAFE,
the
Finance
Alliance
for
Sustainable
Trade
(FAST)
will
hold
the
1st
Sustainable
Finance
Forum
to
promote
long
term
investment
opportunities
in
sustainable
coffee
trade
and
encourage
sustainable
production
in
Central
America.
MANAGUA,
August
31st,
2009‐
Key
socially
oriented
investors,
and
other
leading
members
of
the
sustainable
trade
industry
will
come
together
this
week
in
Managua,
to
present
an
insightful
finance
model
for
commercial
banks
in
Central
America
to
increase
investments
and
create
new
business
opportunities
in
the
sustainable
development
and
production
of
trade
goods,
coffee
in
particular.
“Investment
Opportunities
in
Sustainable
Trade”
finance
forum
takes
place
this
September
3rd,
2009,
from
8:30am‐4:30pm,
alongside
the
9th
Ramacafe
International
Coffee
Conference
at
the
Crowne
Plaza
Convention
Center
in
Managua.
The
event
will
gather
top
experts
from
social
lending
institutions,
Certification
bodies,
social
and
environmental
NGOs,
and
other
sustainable
trade
groups,
with
an
interest
of
creating
a
full
framework
view
on
sustainable
trade
and
provide
practical
advice
and
direction
to
banks
and
socially
and
environmental
oriented
lenders
thinking
about
increasing
their
involvement
within
the
sustainable
trade
marketplace
and
financing
Small
and
Medium
Enterprises
(SMEs)
in
the
Central
American
Region.
The
event
will
be
hosted
by
FAST,
with
the
support
of
HIVOS,
Proyecto
CAMBio,
the
Central
American
Bank
for
Economic
Integration
(BCIE,
as
per
its
initials
in
Spanish),
and
RAMACAFE.
“This
Forum
will
bring
together
the
most
important
banks,
socially
and
environmental
oriented
lending
institutions
and
local
producer
organizations
from
Nicaragua
and
Central
America,
and
is
sure
to
benefit
the
future
of
sustainable
production
in
Central
America”
said
FAST
Executive
Director,
Noemi
Perez.
According
to
José
Guillermo
Flores,
Regional
Director
of
Project
Central
American
Markets
for
Biodiversity
(CAMBio),
"We
are
a
tripartite
institution
that
will
actively
participate
in
this
event
and
represent
the
FMAN‐UNDP‐and
BCIE,
which
are
mainly
aimed
at
prioritizing
environment
and
sustainable
production
initiatives
in
Central
America,
and
we
will
be
at
the
Forum
to
facilitate
SMEs
access
to
innovative
financing
schemes”.
"This
will
be
an
important
summit
to
find
new
business
opportunities
for
small
Central
American
producers,
seeking
the
goal
of
maintaining
social
balance,
as
much
as
a
fair
and
sustainable
livelihood”
says
Juan
Pablo
Solís,
Sustainable
Economic
Development
Program
Officer
from
Hivos,
a
humanist
Institute
for
cooperation
with
developing
countries.
According
to
Henry
Hüeck,
President
of
the
organizing
committee
for
RAMACAFE,
"FAST
participation
in
the
International
Conference
Ramacafe
2009,
strongly
supports
our
initiative
to
find
new
sources
of
finance
for
Small
and
Medium
Enterprises
in
sustainable
production,
as
well
as
technical
cooperation
needed
to
exploit
the
business
opportunities
in
international
markets."
About
Proyecto
CAMBio
The
Central
American
Markets
for
Biodiversity
project
(CAMBio)
is
a
tripartite
initiative
GEF
/
UNDP
/
BCIE,
which
has
as
main
objective
to
prioritize
biodiversity
conservation
and
sustainable
use
in
productive
activities
of
Small
and
Medium
Enterprises
to
be
funded
using
innovative
financial
mechanisms
and
the
extensive
network
of
intermediary
financial
institutions
of
BCIE.
The
project
is
carried
out
in
five
countries
in
the
region:
Honduras,
Guatemala,
El
Salvador,
Costa
Rica,
Nicaragua
and
will
end
in
2012.
It
receives
financial
support
from
the
Global
Environment
Facility
(GEF),
the
management
agency
is
the
United
Nations
Program
for
Development
and
the
Implementing
Agency
is
the
Central
American
Bank
for
Economic
Integration
(BCIE,
as
per
its
initials
in
Spanish).
For
more
information,
please
visit
http://www.proyectocambio.org/
About
the
Central
American
Bank
for
Economic
Integration
(BCIE,
as
per
its
initials
in
Spanish)
Headquartered
in
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras,
CABEI
is
Central
America’s
main
multilateral
bank
and
financial
arm.
CABEI
was
founded
on
13
December
1960
by
Guatemala,
El
Salvador,
Honduras,
Nicaragua
and
Costa
Rica.
Its
non‐regional
members
include
Mexico,
the
Republic
of
China
(Taiwan),
Argentina,
Colombia
and
Spain.
Subsequently,
Panama
and
the
Dominican
Republic
joined
as
non‐founding
regional
members,
and
Belize
also
joined
as
a
non‐founding
beneficiary
country.
For
more
information,
please
visit
http://www.bcie.org/.
About
the
Finance
Alliance
for
Sustainable
Trade
(FAST)
Launched
in
2007,
FAST
is
a
member
driven,
non‐profit
organization.
Its
137
members
in
26
countries
include
sustainable
small
and
medium
enterprises,
commercial
and
socially
oriented
lenders,
development
focused
non‐governmental
organizations,
and
others
involved
sustainable
trade.
FAST's
mission
is
to
facilitate
a
global
collaborative
effort
among
its
members
to
ensure
continued
growth
of
the
sustainable
trade
sector.
FAST
works
to
ensure
continued
growth
of
sustainable
production
and
trade
by
improving
access
and
availability
of
affordable
finance
to
sustainable
producers
in
developing
nations.
For
more
information,
please
visit
http://www.fastinternational.org.
HIVOS
Hivos
is
a
non‐Governmental
organization
from
the
Netherlands,
that
acts
and
is
driven
based
on
humanistic
values.
Together
with
local
social
organizations
in
developing
countries,
Hivos
wants
to
contribute
to
a
free,
fair
and
sustainable
environment,
in
which
citizens
‐
women
and
men
‐
have
equal
access
to
resources
and
development
opportunities.
For
more
information,
please
visit
http://www.hivos.nl/.
About
RAMACAFE
Since
2000,
RAMACAFE
is
a
coffee
association,
who
organizes
the
international
Coffee
Conference
on
a
yearly
basis.
The
central
theme
for
this
year
will
be
"Going
to
Market
".
Guided
by
national
and
international
speakers,
Ramacafe
will
be
able
to
follow
the
path
to
improved
production
quality,
sustainability
and
supply
chain
traceability,
to
remain
competitive
and
to
keep
up
to
the
demands
of
new
markets.
For
more
information,
please
visit
http://www.ramacafe.org.
-30For more information:
Pedro
Avella
Communications
Manager
FAST
Tel:
+1‐514‐759‐6626
ext.100
Cell:
+1‐514‐605‐9023
[email protected]
Cindy
Marizol
Norori
Pérez
Comité
Organizador
IX
Encuentro
Cafetalero
Internacional
Ramacafe
Telefax:
(505)
2277‐2154
[email protected]
[email protected]