Istanbul, May 26 – 27, 2021 – UNDP’s Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD) organized a training program on Participation Finance and Impact Investing in collaboration with the Participation Banks Association of Turkey (TKBB).  ‘Impact Investing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A New Chapter for Participation Finance’ was held online on 26-27 May 2021 as part of GIFIIP’s efforts to support participation financiers and impact investors build capacity for seizing new investment opportunities in the sustainable development area.

GIFIIP’s Training Program was structured as a rigorous technical modular seminar explaining key concepts and recent developments in impact investing and participation finance, shedding light on how impact investors and participation financiers can work together within a win-win framework to achieve the SDGs and showcasing best practices and potential investment opportunities in these fields.

The seminar was well-attended by participants from participation banks, development organizations, regulatory and governmental bodies from Turkey. The seminar was moderated by Ms. Ayşe Nur Tepebaşı, Project Manager at IICPSD. Funda Süzer, Project Manager at IICPSD; Dr. Rami Abdelkafi, Lead Knowledge Creation Specialist at Islamic Development Bank Institute; Cem Baytok, Managing Partner at Ida Capital Inc.; Dr. Wail Aaminou, General Manager at Al Maali Consulting Group; Melis Aslan, Research Assistant at UNDP IICPSD; Zalina Shamsudin, General Manager at Capital Markets Malaysia; and Onur Aksoy, Head of Corporate Finance Department at the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB) provided in-depth training modules, special sessions and case studies during the program.

Mr. Osman Akyüz, Secretary General of the TKBB delivered his opening remarks by highlighting the fundamental role of financiers and investors in the achievement of the SDGs. Mr. Sahba Sobhani, Director of the IICPSD, underlined the role of financiers and investors for sustainable development, describing UNDP’s efforts to develop solutions in the field with both conventional and Islamic finance partners to accelerate the mobilization of impact investing for SDGs.

Although the first participation bank was established in Turkey in 1985, the participation finance system has shown rapid growth in the last decades, maintaining its stable growth at present. According to the Global Islamic Finance Report’s Islamic Finance Country Index (IFCI) 2019, Turkey ranked 13th regarding the country’s state of Islamic banking, finance and industry leadership. Consequently, in a period when the participation finance system is developing strongly, the integration of impact investing into participation financial institutions will multiply the potentials of these two markets and take them one-step further as leading players in the world.

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