(Thursday, 29th September, BRUSSELS,)– The Brussels based Mission of the Eastern Caribbean States is set to host the Green Growth Investment Forum under the theme “Green Growth for Economic Resilience – Promoting Green Investments in the Eastern Caribbean through Innovation and Clean Technology” The groundbreaking event will take place at The Hotel in Brussels on the 6 and 7 October 2011.

The Green Growth Investment Forum is one of a series of initiatives by theMissionto highlight the general investment potential of the region in Europe as well as to specifically stimulate and facilitate investments and interest in the green sector in the Member States of the OECS represented by the jointMission.  The Forum is in keeping with the international, regional and national focus on promoting sustainable development through green economic growth.  The United Nations, the OAS, CARICOM and the OECS as well as the EU and its Member States have been leading advocates of the green growth agenda and H.E Shirley Skerritt-Andrew, Ambassador and Head of the Mission, believes that, “leading up to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, COP 17, as well as the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, it is important that environmentally vulnerable states such as those in the OECS sub-region continue to be key participants in the green discourse, particularly in a Capital as strategic as Brussels, where there are a plethora of major players from Corporate Europe, International Organisations, bilateral partners, Civil Society and of course the EU Member States and institutions.”

The event will therefore bring together private sector representatives, investment promotion agencies, policy makers, researchers, representatives of international organisations and other stakeholders from theEastern Caribbeanand across the European Union.  The aim is to promote networking opportunities, share experiences and build strategic partnerships all geared at contributing to the green growth programme in theEastern Caribbean.

Hon. Dr. Douglas Slater, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Consumer Affairs of St. Vincent and theGrenadineswill keynote the Forum which will also include presentations by officials from OECS Investment Promotion Agencies, the OECS Secretariat, CARIFORUM Directorate, UNEP, CARDI, OAS, the European Commission and private sector representatives from both the OECS and the EU.

The Green Growth Investment Forum is made possible thanks to the support of the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE), the main sponsor of the event, as well as EUCARINET/ENLACE, CTA, OAS, the Taipei Representative Office inBrussels, Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, the Caribbean Development Export Agency and the Caribbean Energy Information System.

The ECS Mission in Brusselsjointly represents the interests of the OECS Member States of Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Luciaand St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  For more information on the ECS Mission and the Green Growth Investment Forum, visit the Mission’s website at http://oecs.org/ecs-mission-in-brussels

The CDE is an ACP-EU joint institution created in the framework of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement. To learn more abou the CDE, visit their website at www.cde.int