Technology and communications sector investors and companies met at an event facilitated by UNDP’s IICPSD and UNDP Turkey to discuss how to mobilize private sector solutions towards sustainable development

UNDP’s "Investor Convening Event” brought together investors and private sector enterprises in Turkey to kickstart communication around Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) investments and accelerate private sector contributions towards the SDGs. The event was organized as part of the SDG Investment Initiative which was launched by UNDP Turkey and UNDP’s IICPSD in October 2021, aiming to raise awareness of investors and private sector on the potential impact of different investment decisions and promote standards to measure impact on improving people’s lives and protecting the nature.

“Our aim is to bring investors and companies contributing to the SDGs together through this convening to facilitate mobilization of private capital for the priority sectors identified in the SDG Investor Map Turkey,” said Arzu Karaarslan Azizoğlu, UNDP Turkey Local Economic Development Projects Manager. “As UNDP Turkey, we raise awareness among businesses and investors through our SDG Investment Initiative to put sustainability at the core of their management decisions and direct capital to where it can make the most difference for people and planet.”

At the event, an investor-enterprise convening session was conducted with the participation of five investors and five companies to ensure focused and interactive communication. Presentations were delivered by WeWalk, Fazla Gıda, Sertifier, Nara XR and Onur Enerji. With SDG-aligned business solutions around increasing the mobility of the visually impaired, eliminating food waste, promoting up-skilling and skills certification, and increasing energy efficiency, the company presentations received a high-level of interest from the participating investors from Ida Capital, Leonie Hill Capital, Global Impact Solutions Today and Gelecek Etki Fonu (Future Impact Fund).

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the financing gap to achieve the 2030 Agenda has increased up to US$4.2 trillion in developing countries alone. There is an urgent need for mobilizing private sector finance to close this financing gap. UNDP is promoting development of the SDG Investor Maps across the globe that intend to navigate their investment towards more inclusive and sustainable business models while making investment decisions.

The “SDG Investor Map Turkey” was developed by UNDP IICPSD and UNDP Turkey as a guide that consists of detailed information on 27 investment opportunity areas identified across 9 priority sectors and 14 subsectors. Technology and Communications sector is one of the priority sectors. This sector in Turkey was also showcased among multiple policy priorities by high-level policy documents such as the 11th Development Plan of Turkey, the SDGs Evaluation Report and the 2019-2023 Strategy Plan of the Ministry of Industry and Technology. The reports highlight the increasing shift to production and development models based on high-value-added technology products and information systems globally. The sector is marked as an enabler to achieve all SDGs, especially SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. Thus, digital transformation projects, research and development, innovation activities and critical technologies are key to unlocking private sector solutions towards sustainable development.