On April 6, 2021 a second online South-South cooperation[1] meeting on learning Mongolian experience in establishment of the Mongolian Green Finance Corporation (MGFC) on attracting green finance was conducted by the support of PAGE of the Kyrgyz Republic and Mongolia.

The Mongolia Green Finance Corporation (MGFC) is a success story of joint public-private sector effort to overcome the challenges of financial sector in transitioning to a more socially inclusive and environmentally friendly economy and the constraints of climate change mitigation measures.

The MGFC specifically targets the mainstreaming of green, affordable and socially inclusive financing for households and businesses, by providing financing for energy efficiency in private sector and green affordable housing. To date, the MGFC was able to attract $50 million for these purposes. It is expected that the interest rates will be lower compare to the market rates. 

During the meeting, representatives of MGFC and GGGI in Mongolia presented information about their experiences in establishing the MGFC and shared the following lessons learned, which could help the Kyrgyz partners to expedite the processes in Kyrgyzstan:

• Having political will is a must-have element in this process, as it may require several hearings at the Government and Parliament levels. 
• Establishing of a dedicated working group on establishment of such institution is an important ingredient to pursue.
• Co-funding is important to show ownership of the process
• Establishing contacts with the Green Climate Fund is essential for the success
• Having an accredited entity is an important stage

An important milestone in transition of the Kyrgyz Republic towards an inclusive green economy was the adoption of the Green Economy Development Programme (GEDP) in 2019, where implementation of sustainable finance was of high priority for the country’s sustainable development.

The South-South Triangular Cooperation between the Kyrgyz Republic and Mongolia provided an opportunity to build and strengthen mutual exchange on green economy, sustainable finance, in particular Mongolian experience in establishing the MGFC and attracting the green finance to Mongolia. Green sustainable finance is very important to the successful implementation of green economy objectives. Today, the Kyrgyz Republic is at the starting point to promote sustainable finance and experience of other countries is of cardinal importance. This exchange resulted in an agreement to organize a regular two-way exchange and learning within PAGE platform. There is high interest in Mongolia experience from the side of the Union of Banks of Kyrgyzstan, which is playing one of the leadership role in development of Sustainable and Green Finance in the Kyrgyz Republic.

This cooperation provided an excellent opportunity for exchanges of stakeholders directly involved in developing and implementing the policy reform for sustainable finance in the two neighboring countries.

Both Countries are the partner countries in Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) initiative, Mongolia since 2013 and Kyrgyz Republic since 2016.

[1] South-South and triangular cooperation – where international partners facilitate direct exchange among beneficiary countries - can go a long way to pass on knowledge and experiences between countries, enable mutual learning process and increase momentum in the action to address climate change, advance green economy and achieve the 2030 Agenda.