The Impact Investing Advisory Board (EYDK) of Türkiye and the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) hosted the annual “GSG Leadership Meeting (GLM)" in Istanbul, bringing together 150 impact investing leaders from 50 countries with their Turkish counterparts.
This year's meeting, titled “Path to Impact Economy: Bridging the Global North and Global South in Türkiye's Centennial Year", provided a showcase of Türkiye's remarkable achievements in impact investing over the past four years.
Commenting on Türkiye's progress in impact investing, Investment Office President A. Burak Dağlıoğlu said, “Our key strategies involve strengthening our investment ecosystem in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. The trillion-dollar global impact investing market is critical to that strategy. EYDK, of which we are among the founders under the auspices of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, enables a stronger impact investing ecosystem and boosts Türkiye's global market share in this field."
GSG President Sir Ronald Cohen confirmed the importance of holding the GLM in Istanbul, saying, “With its burgeoning impact investing ecosystem and potential, Türkiye is ideally placed to serve as a conduit of imaginative thinking between continents. The country's centennial is also a fitting time to acknowledge the wonderful work being carried out by EYKD, in the hopes that GLM will draw on Türkiye's longstanding tradition for the benefit of the impact investing movement worldwide."
Elaborating on these thoughts, EYDK President Şafak Müderrisgil stated, “Türkiye has a strong base for impact investing through its geopolitical and human capital advantage, its venture philanthropy differentiator, and its resilient finance sector and startup scene. Being a member of the GSG, Türkiye elevates to a new status as an impact investing hub and a regional market entry point."
Istanbul Financial Center (IFC) CEO Ahmet İhsan Erdem attended the summit as the main sponsor and underlined that the IFC is one of Türkiye's most important strategic projects, saying, "Cooperation with international institutions and countries will bring the IFC to the forefront in the global arena. The IFC will make a significant contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals of our economy and the development of financial markets."