The Conference titled “New Horizons in Alternative Finance: International Liquidity, Green Finance and Socially Responsible Finance” was Held

The conference which began with the opening speech of Recep Tayyip Erdogan the President of the Republic of Turkey, brought together many important names from Turkey as well as the world specialists, academics and market representatives to open new horizons, new ideas and to share goals regarding alternative financing.

Welcome speeches of the conference organized with the support of Borsa Istanbul Group and Turkish Airlines, were delivered by the President of the Presidency of Turkey Finance Office. Prof. Göksel Aşan and Marmara University Rector Prof. Erol Özvar.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan the President of the Republic of Turkey who made the opening speeches of the conference said in his speech “We will bring our country to the place it deserves in alternative finance. The issue of alternative finance will bring a new breath to the economy. As in every field, they have to continuously develop the financial system of Turkey, an integral part of Turkey’s economy, and create their own unique models.”

The President Erdogan said “I believe that a system based on interest in the future world will be replaced by a new financial architecture in which participation and risk sharing are essential.” Explaining that alternative finance has become widespread, adopted and deepened in the world, the President said, “Hopefully, we will take bolder and more determined steps in alternative finance in the coming days, and bring our country to the place it deserves in this field.”

“We plan to bring the Istanbul Finance Center project into life at the beginning of 2022 at the latest.”

Emphasizing that Istanbul Financial Center will soon become an important brand, the President Erdoğan continued his speech as follows: “I believe that it will be the only attraction center in the region especially in the field of Islamic finance and financial technologies. With the support and efforts of our relevant institutions, we expect this project to be brought into life at the beginning of 2022 at the latest.”

Stating that because participation finance, a financial model that takes sharing production and moral values into account, is based on risk sharing and wealth, it addresses to everybody, the President Erdoğan expressed that “he believes that this model, which takes not only Islamic but also universal moral values into consideration, will solve all the problems of humanity.

The President Erdogan said in his speech, “It is always called participation banking since its beginning. I have always opposed this. Because there is no concept of participation banking. If it is an interest-free system, its name should be ‘Participation Finance System.”

Prof. Erol Özvar, “The search for an alternative to the classical conventional finance system has increased.”

The Rector of Marmara University Prof. Erol Özvar who emphasized in his speech that the search for an alternative to the conventional financial system of capitalism has increased at a remarkable level said that, “The profit patterns with speculative character, far beyond the earnings of real economic activities, receive serious criticism in the world. The efforts of developed countries to subdue the developing and economically weak countries without using weapons and armies with juts using high-interest loans or credits have become much more visible. This situation leads to protests and new searches. and its implementation has become much more important than before. It has become much more important than before to identify and implement changes, economic and financial measures that will encourage production and partnerships and ensure justice in the distribution without involving high interest.”

Emphasizing that the Institute established by the support of Presidency of Turkey, Finance Office is Turkey’s first and only institute working in the field of Islamic economics and finance, Prof. Özvar stressed that, “the Institute will not be just an institution providing graduate education. It also adopts the goal to make Turkey a center in the field of Islamic economics and finance as part of the Istanbul Finance Center project by means of its academic and social activities as its vision.”

Prof. Göksel Aşan: “Alternative finance will support real sector and economic growth”

Prof. Göksel Aşan the President of the Presidency of Turkey Finance Office stated in his speech that, “alternative finance will contribute to make the structure of the financial system a more balanced one and will support economic growth together with the real sector.”

In his speech, Prof. Aşan stated that “they are trying to implement projects that are compatible with the goal of increasing the share of non-banking financial sector, including alternative finance,” and added, “I would like to emphasize that ‘participation finance’, a financial model prioritizing sharing, production and moral values, is an alternative. It is a candidate to be one of the most important actors of finance. The Institute of Islamic Economics and Finance, established at Marmara University in cooperation with our Finance Office, will provide the scientific infrastructure for new products and services, and will support both the industry and our country through academic studies, reports and projects and contribute to the development of human capital in the field of participation finance.”

Mentioning that the developments in financial technology play an important role in the interest of alternative finance worldwide and in the development of new instruments, Prof. Aşan said, “The possibility to carry out interpersonal financial transactions online without intermediaries contributed greatly to the development of alternative financial instruments in the world such as crowdfunding, personal debt and private venture capital.”

After the welcoming and opening speeches, the conference continued with three separate sessions titled “New Horizons in International Liquidity Funding”, “New Horizons in Green Finance” and “New Horizons in Socially Responsible Finance”.

The Conference titled “New Horizons in Alternative Finance”, which was held in today’s conditions where the needs of the financial system differed substantially, brought together many academics and experts to open new horizons in alternative finance and share new ideas and goals. At the conference, it was emphasized that by developing tools such as crowdfunding, peer to peer (P2P) financing, responsible finance, new capital instruments, interest-free bonds, it can be contributed to sustainable economic development.

The Session of New Horizons in International Liquidity Funding

In the first session of the conference, it was focused on cross-border liquidity and mega-bank project. In the session, it was discussed the methods developed by the Islamic Finance Industry to ensure a stable economy and prevent any liquidity shortage. The idea of creating an effective Islamic money market at the international level was also discussed in that session.

The opening speech of the session was made by Prof. Murat Çizgiakça from Konya Karatay University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Islamic Economics and Finance. Lee Wan Mone, Senior Vice President, IILM (International Islamic Liquidity Management), Prof. Obiyathulla Ismath Bacha from INCEIF (International Center for Education in Islamic Finance), and Islamic Development Bank, Assoc. Prof. Ahmet Şuayb Gündoğdu from Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University attended as speakers to the panel moderated by PTFO unit manager Dr. Tarık Akın.

The Session of New Horizons in Green Finance

In the second session of the conference, it was established that if the finance does not aim to create sustainable value in the economy, it would naturally be unstable and deviate from its ultimate goal of sharing more prosperity. Accordingly, the answer to the question of how to reconstruct a strong, inclusive and sustainable growth was sought. It is emphasized that Islamic finance is an effective example of responsible finance.

The opening speech of the session was made by Dr. Ma Jun, the President of the Green Finance Committee, China. To the panel moderated by Prof. Tahsin Özcan from Marmara University, Şule Kılıç Turkey Country Vice President of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Prof. Mehmet Asutay from Durham University, and Dr. Dalal Aassouli attended as speakers.

The Session of New Horizons in Socially Responsible Finance

The third session of the conference focused on the future role of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in achieving sustainable development goals. Information was provided on the Belt and Road Initiative’s potential in the green finance system and the basic financial instruments it uses.

The moderator of the last panel, in which the opening speech was made by Sami Al-Suwailem, the President of Islamic Development Bank, was Prof. Erol Özvar, the rector of Marmara University. Dr. Mohamed Wail Aaminou, CEO of Al Maali, Sahba Sobhani from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Dr. Hazik Mohamed from Stellar Consulting Singapore joined the session as speakers.