DDCAP was delighted to sponsor and attend the 2nd edition of the IFN Turkey dialogue (Istanbul 2019). Convened by Redmoney Events (Islamic Finance News), IFN Turkey was held on September 9th at the Shangri-La Bosphorus Hotel in Istanbul. The forum was well attended and comprised a series of discussions, leading with “Aligning Participation Banking for Success in Turkey ” and the “Growth and Innovation of Capital Markets and Asset Management in Turkey”. DDCAP representatives David Testa and Daniel Barrett took the opportunity to meet many of DDCAP’s clients in Turkey and the wider region. David was also a panellist on the session titled ”Digitization and Financial Technology in Turkey”, where fintech regulation and the requirements for financial technology investment to thrive in Turkey were discussed in detail.
There was also an additional presentation provided by Sheikh Bilal Khan, Chief Islamic Finance Officer, Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), focusing on opportunities to increase business between Islamic markets in Turkey and Central Asia. He commented that alignment should be encouraged through the establishment of Turkish businesses in the AIFC as well as Central Asian investors finding further opportunities to invest in Turkey, citing in particular the multitude of companies and large amount of wealth – particularly Islamically managed wealth – in Turkey that can find a home in Asia.
There were also additional dialogues on the role and opportunity for Environmental, Humanitarian and Socially Responsible Investment, as well as the potential for such ethical and participation finance to become more widely considered in Turkey.