Istanbul to host high-level financing congress
Posted by meb at February 7th, 2007
Senior representatives from local government, international financial institutions and the private sector will gather in Istanbul this month to discuss the need for innovative local and international financing.
DAMARIS KREMIDA
ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News
In an effort to share European Union financing information with its neighboring countries, the European Finance Convention Foundation (EFCF) will hold the fourth Congress on Financing Infrastructure Municipalities and Local Authorities Feb. 13-14 in Istanbul.
EFCF Director Claudio Cassuto explained that the congress in Istanbul is important because municipalities and local authorities will have the chance to network with representatives of the banking and financing sectors. He said that a primary aim of the conference is to find more ways for the 27 EU members to work with the countries around them and share information and experiences on financing as their neighbors also try to strengthen their financial infrastructures. �These are key issues for them to move forward.�
The event in Istanbul later this month is expected to draw 400 representatives of municipalities, financial institutions and the private sector from 26 countries from central, eastern, southeastern and Mediterranean Europe, Russia, the Caucasus and from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş and Economy Minister Ali Babacan are also expected to attend.
Cassuto said that there has been a lot of enthusiasm and curiosity generated by the Turkish representatives and hosts of the February congress.
Murat Parmakçı, a specialist from the Turkish Capital Markets Board (SPK), told the Turkish Daily News in a phone interview that the upcoming event in Istanbul was important for Turkey’s municipalities. Turkey needs to to improve infrastructure investment and funds and find ways to match investors and projects, Parmakçı said. “For example the Istanbul Municipality needs a lot of financing and there are willing investors. We need to find efficient ways to transfer the funds.”
As foreign investments and business are on the rise in Turkey, Cassuto believes that, despite the region’s uncertainties, Turkey’s potential is growing as it stands astride East and West. “At the end of the day business is what makes things work,” Cassuto said. He sited the acquisition of Turkish Finansbank by the National Bank of Greece (NBG). “How can you get a semi state-run company like NBG to say ‘I’m going to enter the Turkish market despite the Cyprus conflict” he asked, adding that ultimately both countries benefited. “Business overtakes politics.”
The EFCF, established in 1987 as an independent body, has been collaborating with the European Commission and International Financial Institutions on major matters related to the EU economic and financial integration like the euro and its predecessor the “ecu,” the enlargement process and EU-Mediterranean cooperation. Throughout the years it has organized high-level networking and educational events in 20 countries.
This is the first year the EFCF has organized events in both Athens and Istanbul.
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