The size of the sustainable finance market in Kazakhstan is growing every year. At present it surpasses US$250 million. The Turkic Green Finance Council, established at the AIFC site, will help to bring the indicators in this area to a higher level. It was opened on the instructions of the Head of State. Along with Kazakhstan, the Council includes six more countries, namely Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Hungary and Turkmenistan. The latter two will act as observers. The Council’s objective is to develop and promote green finance in the countries, as well to increase investment inflows into environmental and social projects.
“The Secretariat of the Green Finance Council will be based at the AIFC Green Finance Centre. The purpose of the Council is to create a platform and favorable conditions for attracting funding and investment in the region of the Organization of Turkic States to finance environmental and social projects, the implementation of sustainable development goals and the Paris Agreement, as well as the achievement of carbon neutrality,” Assel Nurakhmetova, Deputy CEO of the AIFC Green Finance Centre, said.
The AIFC Green Finance Center is set to become the Council's Secretariat. The organization ranks first in the Global Green Finance Index among Eastern European and Central Asian countries. Each of the Council member states will be represented by separate financial institutions and agencies.
“For example, in Hungary this work is carried out by the central bank of Hungary, in Kyrgyzstan it is done by the Union of Banks of Kyrgyzstan, and in Azerbaijan - by the Ministry of Economy. That is, all countries have different institutions, different government agencies, but we still keep in touch. It does not matter which body is in charge of that. The main thing is that they are promoting this work at their country level, and we will further join efforts to promote it at the regional level. The establishment of the Green Finance Council will lead to the growth of the sustainable finance market, including social bonds,” Nurakhmetova added.