The second day of the AVPN Global Conference 2024 unfolded with a spotlight on impact investing and new partnerships as powerful vehicles for driving positive change across Asia.

Commenting on the significance of impact investing in Asia, Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO of AVPN, said, "The fact that we dedicated Day Two of our flagship Conference to Impact Investing, and the multi-faceted topics throughout the day, shows the immense potential of impact investing to catalyse positive change in Asia’s dynamic and diverse communities. By aligning financial objectives with social and environmental outcomes, we can unlock new opportunities for inclusive and sustainable growth for our region.”

Day Two included plenary sessions and workshops featuring expert thought leaders from organisations such as Abu Dhabi Investment Office, Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, COP28, and UBS Optimus Foundation.

Day Two’s programme brought together a diverse cohort of investors, corporations, entrepreneurs, philanthropists and changemakers united by a shared vision of leveraging capital for social and environmental good.

Against the backdrop of Asia’s rapid economic development and evolving social landscape, the AVPN Impact Investing Day commenced with a series of discussions and workshops focused on impact investing strategies and innovative approaches tailored to the region’s urgent opportunities and challenges.

One of the highlights of the day was the launch of the game-changing AVPN ImpactCollab, a revolutionary outcomes-based social investing system, developed with the support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

To kick-off the three-year initiative, AVPN presented its first phase by unveiling the Social Outcomes Platform, Asia’s first impact data registry powered by its proprietary impact data standards to validate and evaluate social programmes by their cost per result and effectiveness.

At the Conference, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation announced plans to finance micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), with the aim of developing projects that nurture entrepreneurship, building capacity and capability among young entrepreneurs in some of the least developed countries in the world.

Recognising the significant opportunity for MSME’s to positively contribute to economic growth, this US$27 million initiative will provide funding through a variety of mechanisms to allow recipients to build and grow their businesses.