The EYDK Impact Investing Summit 2024, hosted by the Impact Investing Advisory Board (EYDK), was held on May 23-24 at Boğaziçi University under the theme “Accelerating Impact: Forge the Future, Transform Together." The event highlighted Türkiye's progress toward an impact economy and aimed to increase awareness, promote collaboration, and strengthen the impact investing ecosystem.
The summit began with an opening speech by EYDK Chair Şafak Müderrisgil and was graced by notable figures, including the Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır and Investment Office Vice President Bekir Polat. Minister Kacır emphasized the importance of impact investing in fostering sustainable economic growth and development and added, "We will consider impact investments as a strong driving force for our local development initiative."
Bekir Polat highlighted the significance of the summit, stating, “The EYDK process, initiated under the auspices of our President in 2019, has evolved into an ecosystem today, involving all stakeholders from the public and private sectors. We believe that this summit holds significant value for discussing the opportunities presented by impact investments in our country, emphasizing the importance of impact investing, and making impact measurable."
EYDK Chair Şafak Müderrisgil said EYDK laid the initial groundwork for developing the impact investment ecosystem alongside all its stakeholders during its first term and added, “The Impact Investment Summit in Türkiye not only showcases the progress and best practices in the field of impact investment but also sheds light on our new era. In EYDK's second term, our primary goal is to mobilize private sector capital for impact investments and ensure impact transparency in collaboration with ecosystem stakeholders."
In his remarks, Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) Chair Nick Hurd underscored the global need for increased investment in projects and businesses that positively impact people and the planet, praising Türkiye's leadership in this field.
Throughout the summit, sponsored by Investment Office, various panels took place on topics such as the current and future state of impact investing in Türkiye, the supply and demand of impact capital, impact bonds, early impact investment stories, place-based impact investing, faith-based investments aligned with impact investing, data scarcity, impact measurement and management, and delivering social impact through investing in women's football. The summit attracted significant interest from representatives of national and international institutions and was widely followed by a diverse audience.