World Investment Forum 2018

Local news, 22.10.2018

The World Investment Forum, a conference on sustainable investments, was held from 22 to 26 October at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Organized every two years by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the event brought together six thousand people around the role of finance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

2018
Opening ceremony in the Assembly hall of the Palais des Nations © UNCTAD photo by Violaine Martin

At the opening ceremony, Alain Berset said that "sustainable development is a huge challenge that we must face together and the Global Investment Forum identifies innovative ways to finance it". According to UNCTAD, $ 2,500 billion a year is needed for developing countries to meet the SDGs by 2030. President Berset called for open policies in a context of mistrust of multilateralism. He noted that "sustainable investment is spreading" but is worried about last year's drop in foreign direct investment flows.

This is the largest meeting of 2018 in Geneva.