UNDP Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development

IICPSD inauguration

About the Center

The UNDP Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD) has been established in March 2011 as a result of a Partnership Framework Agreement signed between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The Center builds on Turkey’s convening power and dynamic private sector as well as UNDP’s global mandate to engage the private sector constructively in supporting global and local efforts to address development challenges.

The Center is located on the third floor of a Turkish government building in downtown Istanbul with a panoramic view of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn. The premises consist of one conference room with a capacity of 130 people and three rooms for working groups, several offices and a library.

The Center is currently in a start-up phase and will become fully operational in the coming months.

Background

UNDP recognizes that achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) depends on vibrant economic growth driven by markets and private enterprises that create jobs, provide goods and services for the poor and generate tax revenues to finance essential social and economic infrastructure. The private sector - from large multi-national companies to small enterprises and cooperatives servicing local markets - also has an essential role to play in achieving broader UNDP goals in areas such as energy and environmental service delivery, crisis prevention, gender equality and democratic governance.

In a number of developing and transition countries UNDP contributes to development of inclusive markets by working in the areas of policy and institutional infrastructure, value chain integration, provision of affordable goods and services, inclusive entrepreneurship development and corporate social responsibility. These areas are the pillars of UNDP's Private Sector Strategy.

UNDP also has a number of global programmes that are implemented at the national level with guidance and technical support from the Private Sector Division at headquarters. These programmes are: Inclusive Markets Development, Growing Inclusive Markets, and Business Call to Action.

Objectives

The Center will act as a Southern-based International Centre of Excellence and will have a global mandate in terms of its focus, work, collaboration and outreach as part of UNDP’s global Private Sector Division. It will pursue the following objectives:

  • Support the development of inclusive and competitive markets and inclusive business models that engage poor people into value chains as producers, employees, consumers and entrepreneurs, with the end goal of poverty alleviation.
  • Foster private sector engagement and advocacy with for example, the UN system for achievement of MDG targets (especially on focus sectors like health, agriculture, education, housing and water and themes like youth, gender, environment) and other internationally agreed development goals (e.g. climate change).
  • Become a center of excellence in terms of capacity development activities that harnesses Trilateral Development Cooperation and South-South partnership, and promotes skill-building, access to enterprise-related finance, entrepreneurship and assistance to enabling actors.
  • Convene business and supporting actors to expand dialogue and create actionable partnerships between themselves, in support of a development agenda.

The Center’s objectives will be achieved as a one stop shop service delivery center through research, advocacy and public-private dialogues, knowledge development and management, MDG-based and public-private partnerships, as well as capacity building and training.