Conference on sustainable growth kicks off in Istanbul

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey hosted on Wednesday a conference in Istanbul on the financing of sustainable growth via capital markets.

With support from Turkey's Presidential Finance Office and sponsored by the sole exchange entity of Turkey, Borsa Istanbul, and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute, the conference, Financing of Sustainable Growth through Capital Markets, welcomed the esteemed global academics including James Robinson and Ufuk Akcigit from Chicago University.

Participants explored different perspectives on the purpose of finance, sustainable prosperity and ideal structures for growth, shedding light on numerous challenges currently facing countries' economies worldwide.

In his speech during the conference, Robinson said power should be balanced between societies and states, for sustainable prosperity to be achieved.

He underlined the importance of inclusive economic institutions, which should be designed by governments to produce wealth for societies.

"If economic institutions are exclusionist, they create poverty," he said, adding that a balance between political and economic institutions was also necessary.

Pointing to the example of South Korea, he said the country achieved economic growth thanks to its investments in human capital.

"While there is a diversity of economic and political institutions in South Korea, this is not the case in North Korea," he said, stressing that in North Korea, economic institutions were limited by political institutions.

He noted with the help of politics, economic institutions could produce investment and innovation.

"The difference between the two countries stems from the political and institutional differences established after World War II," he added.

As for Akcigit, he said the foundation for economic development was based on a market mechanism where the private and public sector worked collectively.

Pointing out the importance of innovation in markets, Akcigit explained that allocating the right resources to the right sectors and companies would be vital for future prospects.