PORTRAIT
FAST in Montréal
Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade

Financing solutions and financial management tools for small producers of sustainable products such as coffee, cocoa, tea, cotton and other agricultural products, will see a big boost following the 2007 launch of the Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade (FAST). Montréal is proud that FAST is leveraging the city's advantages as an international hub, as well as its dynamic community of social economy players.

Founded with the support of a broad constituency of key international lenders, producer groups and development-focused NGOs, FAST is an innovative partnership designed to improve the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the sustainable trade sector.

Beginning in 2006, Montréal International connected with the FAST development team, in order to ensure that Montréal's unique advantages as a headquarters city were well understood. This meant putting forward not only Montréal's strategic geographic location, its competitive cost structures and its track record as a successful international host city, but also linking the presence of a strong cluster of social-economy organizations and institutions. The process leading to host city selection accelerated quickly in late 2007, and culminated in the decision at the end of the year to open permanent headquarters in Montréal.

FAST's Montréal secretariat will play a key role in pursuing the organization's important mission. These include leading global advocacy efforts, facilitating communications with members and stakeholders, and implementing a series of projects designed to address the financing accessibility gap, involving education, online marketplace, and impact assessment tools. FAST is already up and running in their Montréal office and are actively seeking new members around the globe, across the full range of stakeholder groups.

"As a new international, non-profit organization, the launch of our secretariat
office in Montréal was a critical milestone in the establishment of the Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade (FAST). The guidance and strong support
generated from our partnership with Montréal International provided FAST
with a firm foundation, enabling us to continue building our role as a leader
in the Sustainable Trade Finance sector."

Jason Potts
Member of the Steering Committee
Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade