EBRD keen to work with Turkish sovereign wealth fund

By Tuba Sahin

ISTANBUL

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) hopes to make the Turkey Wealth Fund (TVF) a major partner, just as Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund became their largest client, the bank’s managing director for Turkey, said on Friday.

Speaking the second day of Forum Istanbul, Jean-Patrick Marquet said they want to contribute with TVF to develop financing infrastructure, energy and the capital market. TVF’s mission is to develop Turkey’s strategic assets, grow their value and provide funding for Turkey’s priority investments.

"Turkey is a very large, dynamic, sophisticated economy. But one surprising weakness is the fact that capital markets are relatively shallow," Marquet said.

Noting that one of the EBRD’s major objectives was to increase the number of Turkish companies listing on Borsa Istanbul and on global stock markets, Marquet said the TVF could be the catalyst to effectively bringing forward deeper capital markets.