SIDS GBN Forum 2018 - Mauritius | Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States

“Strengthening private sector partnerships for sustainable tourism development.”

UN-OHRLLS and the Government of Mauritius convened the SIDS Global Business Network Forum from 21 – 22 May 2018 at the Maritim Resort and Spa, Balaclava, Mauritius. The forum theme was “Strengthening private sector partnerships for sustainable tourism development”.

Forum objectives

A platform for existing and new members of the SIDS Global Business Network to meet and exchange best practices and for building partnerships for sustainable tourism development in SIDS,
Provide substantive inputs to the AIMS regional preparatory meeting for the SAMOA Pathway mid-term review as well as the inter-regional meeting,
Facilitate an open dialogue and sharing of experiences among governments, private sector, civil society and other stakeholders on addressing challenges and promoting opportunities for sustainability of the tourism industry in SIDS,
Dedicated sessions on connectivity, renewable energy, sustainable oceans, climate change and resilience building and other cross-cutting thematic areas in the context of promoting sustainable tourism development in SIDS,
Advocate for continued momentum on promoting the theme of the third International Conference on SIDS which is “the sustained development of SIDS through genuine and durable partnerships” and recognise the role of partnerships as critical for the implementation of the sustained development in SIDS.

Forum report

View the 2018 forum report

Partnership announcements

Mauritius based Lux Resorts and the Austrian renewable energy company Swimsol announced a partnership to reduce fuel use through increasing the use of solar technology at Lux owned resorts in the Maldives.
Dutch company Elemental Watermakers, focused on renewable energy driven desalination systems, announced its commitment to partner with Small Island Developing States (SIDS) including with the South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) to work together with the private sector of South Pacific SIDS.
The World Ocean Council announced its commitment to partner with UN-OHRLLS in supporting the goals of the SIDS-Global Business Network by bringing together the ocean business community to also focus on SIDS.
The Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and SIDS Global Business Network will collaborate with key national, regional and international partners to promote food tourism across SIDS.
A partnership between the Vanilla Islands Organization and the International Coalition of Tourism Partners was also announced and the Vanilla Islands Organisation has committed to strengthen information technology and dissemination of information on the Sustainable Development Goals.