During the visit of Aigul Kusalieva, Chief Strategy Officer of the AIFC Green Finance Centre to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on November 18-19, Uzpromstroybank was awarded the AIFC Green Finance Awards in the category "Best Green Bank" by the end of 2020.
Uzpromstroybank is one of the largest banks in Uzbekistan and has a line of green financial products, including green loans for the corporate sector and SMEs, as well as green mortgages. In 2020, the bank adopted an Environmental and Social Risk Management Policy and System Procedure, i.e., all the bank's projects are assessed accordingly before the financing stage.
Shukhrat Yakubov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board -Member of the Management Board of JSCB "Uzpromstroybank" noted: "We are grateful to the Nominating Committee of the Award, as well as the AIFC Green Finance Centre for recognizing our work. We are also grateful to our partners for their support. We are ready to share our experience and cooperate for the development of the green finance market in the region".
"Uzpromstroybank is a vivid example of the transformation of a financial institution into a green bank, and we are pleased to promote this case as an example for other institutions in Central Asia", said Aigul Kusalieva, Chief Strategy Officer of the AIFC Green Finance Centre.
During the meeting, the parties also exchanged views on current trends in the sustainable finance market and discussed further areas of cooperation, including the regional initiative of Green Investment Principles for the Belt and Road (GIP).
Reference:
Astana International Financial Centre was established on the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev as part of the National Plan "100 steps to implement five institutional reforms". On July 2, 2020, as part of the meeting of the AIFC Management Council, the Center's Development Strategy was adopted until 2025.
According to it, the vision of the AIFC is to become a leading international financial centre in the region, including Central Asia, the Caucasus, the EAEU countries, Western China, Mongolia and Eastern Europe.
The mission of AIFC is to promote the sustainable long-term development of the region. As the Head of State noted, K.Tokayev, "The AIFC with its unique capabilities can act as a universal platform connecting the countries of the region". www.aifc.kz
The AIFC Green Finance Centre is a subsidiary organisation of the AIFC Authority and the Eurasian Development Bank, aimed at introduction and development of sustainable finance instruments and attracting of investments in environmental and social projects in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
The AIFC Green Finance Centre supported the very first issuance of green bonds and first verified green loan in Kazakhstan. Also, the Centre introduced definitions of green finance and green taxonomy (a classifier of economic activities and projects that meet technical selection criteria) in the national environmental legislation. The new legislation provides incentives for entrepreneurs who use green finance instruments. gfc.aifc.kz