The antidote to the current account deficit is sustainability

Serkan Arman - COP31's Global Banking Partners BBVA and Garanti BBVA make a significant contribution to the summit held in Antalya with more than 60 panels, round table meetings and sectoral meetings.

Onur Genç, who has been the CEO of BBVA, the global finance giant with a deep-rooted history of 169 years in banking, since the end of 2018, had a press conversation with Garanti BBVA General Manager Mahmut Akten and Garanti BBVA Deputy General Managers Sinem Edige and Cemal Onaran in Antalya, where he came for COP31.

BBVA CEO Onur Genç stated that sustainability is an economic necessity beyond an environmental responsibility for Türkiye. Explaining that he has been thinking a lot about the last 50-60 years of Türkiye, Genç said, "The current account deficit is at the core of many issues that you can describe as crises that we face." Stating that the main reason for the deficit is energy imports, Genç said, "The way to solve it is through sustainability."

Genç also pointed out that the real test for companies will be the EU's Border Carbon Regulation Mechanism. Reminding that Europe is the main market of Turkish companies, Genç stated that every company faces the possibility of encountering additional costs when entering this market. Warning that SMEs are unprepared, Genç said, "Many SMEs are not even aware of it." Emphasizing that banks should undertake the consultancy burden, Genç noted that he found the 35 percent electrification target by 2035, which Türkiye highlighted at COP31, to be very accurate.

Opportunity for Türkiye

Stating that Türkiye produces 8 percent of BBVA Group's profits, CEO Genç announced that they expect Türkiye's share to be between 10 and 15 percent in the 1 trillion euro sustainable financing target in the 2018-2029 period. Garanti BBVA General Manager Mahmut Akten said, "Türkiye also needs serious investment," and reminded the bank's sustainable financing target of 3.5 trillion lira by the end of 2029. Stating that they provided 8 billion dollars of financing only to wind and solar, Akten said that the contacts at COP31 were an opportunity to attract the resources of international development banks to Türkiye.

Premium is indexed to emissions

BBVA announced emission reduction targets until 2030 in 10 carbon-intensive sectors, including cement, iron and steel, automotive and energy. Genç stated that these targets are one of the premium criteria for everyone who receives variable bonuses in the group of 127 thousand employees and said, "We have focused ourselves so much on that job." Akten also stated that in credit committees, companies are scored with BBVA's conversion index.

37 percent energy saving in bread

Garanti BBVA General Manager Mahmut Akten stated that industrial transformation is the most difficult part of the job. Stating that the modernization of bread producer Uno, with the financing provided from Spain, reduced the energy cost by 37 percent, Akten said, "The fact that you can reduce the cost of a product that comes to our table, such as bread, by 37 percent is a very serious opportunity for the future." Stating that both efficiency and export opportunities increase with larger cement kilns, Akten also noted that the real return on such investments is often received in the seventh or eighth year, and that companies have delayed the transformation due to high interest rates in the last 2-3 years.

Reminding that demand jumped when 36 percent interest was applied for TOBB's Breath Loan for up to 24 months, Akten said, "So the issue is not accessibility, it is interest."