Istanbul, Turkey, November 28, 2007
— IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, in partnership with the Dünya newspaper, will host the 2007 Turkey Housing Finance Conference to raise public awareness and create opportunities for sharing knowledge about critical housing finance issues, particularly increasing access to affordable housing. It will be held on December 3 and 4, 2007, in Istanbul.
Topics will include the impact of the mortgage sector on the local economy, construction finance, and affordable housing. The conference will also address best practices, funding opportunities, long-term financing alternatives, and trends in urban transformation and rehabilitation. There will be presentations from IFC’s global client base and prominent financial institutions that have set the benchmark for successful projects in mortgage finance around the globe. The conference will also facilitate discussions about worldwide experiences and lessons learned by pioneer investors.
Shahbaz Mavaddat, IFC Director for Southern Europe and Central Asia, will give a keynote address on IFC's approach to supporting development of the housing sector in emerging markets and the opportunities in Turkey. Kenroy Dowers, IFC Global Head of Housing Finance, will share IFC’s experiences in housing finance and development in emerging countries. Other speakers include Loic Chiquier, Lead Financial Officer of the World Bank; Ersin Ozince, President of the Turkish Banking Association; and Turan Erol, Chairman of the Turkish Capital Markets Board.
The housing finance sector is still in its early stages in Turkey, where 60 percent of the people are younger than 30 and the demand for housing is growing. To address this demand, which includes creating better living conditions for people living in substandard housing, an estimated 7 million new homes will be required by 2015. Raising awareness is a key step in helping develop a strong housing sector and creating affordable homes in Turkey.
For more information, visit the conference Web site at
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that poor people have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through loan participations and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About Dünya
Dünya Süper Web Ofset, a company of Dünya Group, publishes Turkey’s leading economy-politics newspaper. Some 75 percent of its circulation is delivered to subscribers, with the rest sold by newspaper wholesalers. Most of Dünya’s subscribers are companies. Since 1981, more than 10,000 research and a million news articles have been published by the paper. Also, about 350 sectoral and regional supplements have been provided with the paper.
Dünya Group’s other companies include Dünya Süper Dağıtım, which exports and distributes nearly 1,900 foreign publications; Dünya Yayıncılık, which publishes several Dünya magazines; Dünya Aktüel, a leading name in book publishing and distribution; and EKO, which is responsible for the subscription and distribution of Dünya publications and others.
