SEED was invited to attend the Second Green Economy Forum for Latin American and the Caribbean, Montevideo, 26-27 April, organized by the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, Uruguay together the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Germany with the support of GIZ.

Aiming at facilitating the exchanges between experts from various countries from the region, the forum focused mostly on inclusive and green jobs, with needed innovative actions by public and private sectors. The work was largely organized around parallel sessions on sustainable urban development, sustainable management of resources and waste, sustainable and innovative industry, and sustainable tourism.

SEED interventions highlighted the importance and necessity of associating and integrating the SMEs in the development process, not just as recipient but as partners, with a closer attention to the most innovative and eco-inclusive ones, providing them with needed enabling capacity. Participants from Uruguay, Colombia, Peru, Brazil and Costa-Rica, as well as GIZ and PAGE experts expressed great interest in SEED activities.

These constitute first steps for the development of a SEED hub in the region in support of the Latin American innovative eco-inclusive SMEs, building on existing initiatives through synergies and joint projects. 

Press release from the the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, Uruguay is available here.