Your Excellencies, Distinguished Representatives of Government Agencies, Dear Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 12^th Bosphorus Summit in Istanbul. This year, the Summit is taking place at a critical time, where the mobilization of investments is on top of every government’s agenda in their effort to achieve an inclusive and sustainable future.

To attain this future and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, substantial financing is required. The world is going through the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression due to the impact of the coronavirus.  The Covid-19 pandemic alone brought an additional[1] financing need of 1.7 trillion USD for developing countries. On the other hand, global financial assets stand at 379 trillion USD, which is at their highest value. 80% of these assets are held in advanced economies. Reallocating just 1.1% of the total assets would be sufficient to fill the annual SDG financing need for developing countries. (OECD)

Impact investing could serve as an effective mechanism to mobilize investments towards development impact and also to align private capital with the SDGs. Developing countries could tap into the potential of the impact investing market, which is growing rapidly, with a total of 2.3 trillion USD invested for impact in 2020 and with the potential to reach 26 trillion USD in the future. (IFC) 

Representing a crucial junction connecting Middle East and North Africa with Central and Eastern Europe, Turkey is advantageously positioned to catalyze impactful investment opportunities that can serve the sustainable development agenda on a regional scale and beyond the region.

For over 50 years, UNDP has been a close partner of the Turkish government in addressing some of the key development challenges faced by the country and in the region. UNDP Turkey and the Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD) have fostered a strong and effective collaboration to increase the know-how around impact investing and SDG-anchored investments. “The Impact Investing Ecosystem in Turkey” was published in 2019 as a preliminary market analysis for impact investing. UNDP also developed the “SDG Investor Map” for Turkey: an investor’s guide on 27 specific investment opportunity areas across 9 priority sectors, that contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. We now look forward to continuing our efforts to promote impact investing and SDG financing in Turkey and across the region.

Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen, in these pressing times, it is vital to catalyze investments that can serve the sustainable development agenda; and we are hopeful that this Summit will be instrumental for forming strong partnerships and exploring further areas of collaboration.

Thank you.

[1] Additional to the base annual financing gap of USD 2.5 trillion (+ USD 1.7 Trillion = USD 4.2 Trillion new annual gap for developing countries)