Invitation to ‘explore and develop markets' for green and inclusive business at 16th IBF in Istanbul, Turkey
The 16th ‘International Business Forum’, a major upcoming conference from 23-24 October 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey, will help ‘green and inclusive businesses’ to explore markets for their products and services and, when markets do not yet exist, collaborate to develop them in the future.
The forum encourages companies, both established ones as well as start-ups, to take a critical look at their core business models, and orient these towards markets where growth opportunities for green and inclusive products exist. As a source of inspiration and example, it has invited leading examples of green and inclusive businesses in sectors like energy, water, lifestyles or telecommunication.
Beyond the exploitation of existing market opportunities to “do well by doing good”, the IBF invites business and other players to explore a second step: The creation or development of new markets. Often, lacking access to green and inclusive products, appropriate sources of financing or skill development offers hold back business that have developed sound business models to include the poor as consumers or producers. Thus, the forum invites impact investors, incubators, donors, NGOs, service providers and other players to discuss how to close these gaps.
As an additional barrier, policy measures are more often than not geared towards ensure stability, and not inclusion. When copied from developed countries, they might just not fit the often difficult environment in urban slums or geographically spread, isolated rural areas. While such market conditions and policy frameworks take years to change, such processes can be greatly accelerated through collaboration and partnerships, helping businesses to have their voice heard in policy discussions.
The IBF builds on a strong history of 15 previous events run all over the world. It is organized by the German development cooperation agency GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. It is backed by the UN Global Compact, the International Chamber of Commerce and UNDP’s IICPSD, who will be present at the event with major representatives.
The main conference takes place on 23-24 October 2013, and training sessions will be run before and after the conference. Please find more information on (not longer available).