VakıfBank and MEXT Partner to Support Companies Covered by EU Carbon Border Rules

VakıfBank and MEXT, the technology center of the Turkish Employers’ Association of Metal Industries, have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at helping businesses meet their decarbonization goals.

The agreement, titled “Strategic Cooperation on Sustainable Finance for Industrial Transformation,” will establish a program called “Dönüşüme Değer,” or “Value for Transformation,” the organizations said in a joint statement. The program will focus in particular on industrial companies and exporters covered by the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, or CBAM.

Under the program, MEXT will help companies develop the infrastructure needed to comply with CBAM reporting requirements and strengthen their knowledge and capabilities in areas including carbon-footprint measurement and related regulations. MEXT will also assess companies’ decarbonization needs and develop tailored road maps in areas including energy and resource efficiency, renewable energy, electrification, process transformation, clean-production technologies and the circular economy.
VakıfBank, for its part, will identify prospective participants, inform eligible companies about the program and direct them to the appropriate services. The bank will also be able to provide financing solutions for investments undertaken through the program, including financing supported by international funding sources.

For companies that participate in and complete the program, outcomes such as reductions in emissions and energy use will be tracked after investments are made, and the effects of those investments will be measured regularly.

The partners said they eventually aim to expand the model to other industries and customer groups.

The agreement was signed by Osman Arslan, chief executive of VakıfBank, and Özgür Burak Akkol, chairman of the Turkish Employers’ Association of Metal Industries.