Impact Finance Initiative Announced as PPP at Davos

On Tuesday 16 January 2024, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of State announced that the Grand Duchy, Switzerland and UBS Optimus Foundation are joining forces to scale up impact investing globally.

The Government of Luxembourg and the SDG Impact Finance Initiative (SIFI) have announced a new public-private partnership (PPP) to mobilise private capital at scale in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing economies.

Luc Frieden, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, announced the partnership on Tuesday 16 January at an event at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, together with Helene Budliger Artieda, the Swiss State Secretary, Josien Sluijs, the Independent Executive President of SIFI, Guillaume Bonnel, the CEO of SIFI, Ambassador Christian Frutiger, Assistant Director General SDC, Liliana de Sá Kirchknopf, Head of Private Sector Development at SECO, and Maya Ziswiler, CEO of UBS Optimus Foundation.

SIFI is a public-private partnership between the Swiss government and UBS Optimus Foundation, which aims to mobilise over CHF 1 billion of private finance and investment for low and middle-income countries by raising more than CHF 100 million in catalytic funding. The partnership with Luxembourg, represented by the Ministry of Finance, will aim to support SIFI in designing and de-risking innovative impact finance solutions that bring positive social and environmental change, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

"The partnership with SIFI is a testament to our shared dedication to impact finance and also reflects the deep, long-standing relations between Luxembourg and Switzerland in financial services. Today, we are marking the start of further close collaboration between our nations in sustainable and impact finance to achieve the SDGs", Prime Minister Frieden said in his welcome remarks at the event.

Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, Gilles Roth, commented: "Switzerland and Luxembourg rank among the greenest financial centres in the world, and have long been pioneers in sustainable finance. This new partnership is thus a natural fit. As a SIFI partner, Luxembourg will contribute actively to shaping this important initiative, building on its long-standing expertise in blended and impact finance, including as a leading international investment fund centre."

Josien Sluijs noted: "Public-private sector partnership is a driving force to advance progress towards achieving the SDGs. With extensive expertise, shared values and financial support, the partnership with the Ministry of Finance of Luxembourg will strengthen SIFI's efforts to promote impact finance globally. We are excited to continue our journey together in scaling up financing for SDGs."