Signature event
AVPN Social Investment Forum Japan 2022
18 November 2022
Tokyo, Japan
Introduction
Social Investment towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Asia
Today, Asia Pacific faces an estimated annual funding gap of USD1.6 trillion to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and impact capital will have to play a catalytic role in influencing markets and the state.
In this context, both public and private sectors are increasing their role, especially private finance has long been seen as key to bridging this gap and numerous actors have stepped in. These include philanthropic foundations, corporations, financial institutions, impact funds, intermediaries and impact organisations such as non-profits and social enterprises, and they are working toward sustainable development through significant social Innovation. In the past decade, AVPN’s members and partners in the region have come together to bring about transformative change in the region. We are now at a tipping point in accelerating SDGs action in Asia, and it is critical that we share a clear and ambitious vision for moving capital toward social impact in the next decade.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that USD2.3 trillion is invested with the mandate of achieving positive impact as of 2020. East and Southeast Asia are one of the fastest growing regions for such investments, growing 23%, and more investors are expected to focus on this region over the next five years, according to the Global Impact Investing Network's investor (GIIN) survey.
Particularly in Japan, the impact investment market is growing, and according to a survey by the Japan National Advisory Board of The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG-NAB Japan), the outstanding investment balance of impact investments has grown from around JPY71.8 billion (approximately USD 652 million) in 2018 to around JPY 1320.4 billion (approximately USD12 billion) in 2021. This is due to the fact that asset management companies, insurance companies, and financial institutions are entering the impact investment market as new impact investment institutions. In addition to the increasing number of impact funds being established in Japan, a national advisory committee for impact investing has also been established. Also, a major Japanese financial institution recently announced "Japan Impact-driven Financing Initiative”, signalling a solid trajectory for impact investing.
For the first time in Japan, a key country in Asia where impact investing is thus accelerating, AVPN will host the Social Investment Forum in Japan on 18 November 2022 as an opportunity to discuss and share knowledge and best practices around social investments in gender, education and economic empowerment issues, which are key areas for achieving the SDGs.
This event is held in conjunction with the Asia Philanthropy Congress 2022, which is hosted by Nippon Foundation in partnership with AVPN and will be held on 19 November 2022 at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo, Japan.
OBJECTIVES
Event Objectives
Provide new knowledge that contributes to the development of Asia's rapidly evolving social investment ecosystem
Disseminate trends and regional-relevant case studies of key players in Asia’s social investment market
Create new social investment opportunities by connecting companies, funds, and intermediary support organisations in Asia with investors and organisations outside the region
SESSION THEMES
This year’s agenda has something to offer you
Principles of Social Investment for the Asia region
AVPN ran a comprehensive landscape mapping of social investment principles with The Economist that would dictate and further transformative social development in the Asia region to meet the SDG targets by the stipulated time period. The 10 defining principles span thematic as well as general motivations and attitudes towards social investment that could be adopted by the continuum of capital stakeholders and help them think strategically about investing capital to reap greater social impact. For the Social Investment Forum, The Economist, and AVPN would curate a session on principles and guiding framework(s) that are relevant to and pertain to the Asia region as well as touch upon cross-regional practices that could be followed by showcasing best practices and relevant case studies.
Working Towards Impact: The Latest Business and Investment Practices
Private sector interest and focus on impact-oriented business and investments has been surging in response to the significant demand for private capital in achieving the SDGs and business opportunities triggered by such demand. Governments are also increasing their support for such a shift, and one of the examples is “New Capitalism” – a new economic policy led by the current Prime Minister of Japan. Key agendas of this policy include “Building Economic and Social Systems for Solving Social Issues” among others, and impact investing is explicitly mentioned as a means to support social entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations, who are considered as important stakeholders to realize New Capitalism. In this session, we will invite front-runners in this field, particularly entrepreneurs and investors from Japan and Asia, to hear what exactly are the necessary actions and measures to push forward this shift, as well as their journey and the latest practices to manage and achieve the desired impact.
Power of Regional Platform to Foster Social Investment Ecosystem
In order for impact investing to achieve its goal of a double bottom line, to function as a segment of the market, and to contribute to solving social issues through continuous development, it is expected to achieve both impact and financial sustainability. To achieve this, it is necessary not only for individual projects to exist on a certain scale, but also for multiple stakeholders, including investors, social enterprises, governments, and international organizations, to be involved in the norms and rule-making of the impact investment market to create a common understanding and common language.
In this session, Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO of AVPN and other speakers who have led the creation of impact investment globally, will discuss the role of platform organizations in the creation of markets, how these networks have helped to set market norms, what kind of market development opportunities have been created, and why key investors, government officials, and other stakeholders are actively involved in these opportunities, with specific case studies. The future trends of the market and the direction of each organization’s strategy will be also explored.
The Cross-Border Impact Investment Opportunity in Asia for Japanese Private Capital
While impact investment is becoming more well-known in Japan and the number of practitioners is increasing, cross-border impact investing out of Japan is still limited.Globally, more and more capital is expected to move towards impact investment which offers both financial returns and positive impact. At the same time, blended finance, the use of catalytic capital to mobilize private capital, is being used as an important tool to facilitate impact investment and was even mentioned at the G20 Osaka Summit Declaration. The need for impact investment has never been more urgent with the OECD estimating that the financing gap that developing countries face to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has increased from $2.5T to $4.2T per year due to the impact of Covid-19. In order to achieve the SDGs by 2030, we need to find ways to mobilize more private capital, and increase collaboration across sectors – business, government and non-profit sectors. What is needed to mobilize more Japanese private capital into impact investments in Asia?In this session, we will first explore some examples of cross-border private impact investment and blended financing from Japan into Asia. We will then have a cross-sector discussion on the international impact investment opportunities and challenges for Japanese capital in Asia.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Join us at the AVPN Social Investment Forum Japan 2022
- “AVPN Social Investment Forum Japan 2022” is an invitation only event focused on key leaders in the social investment domain including Financial Institution, Private Equity, Venture Capital, Impact Investors, High-net-worth Individuals (HNWI)/Family Offices, Corporate CVC, Crowdfunding management companies, and Asset Management Firms etc.
- The event aims to invite approximately 75 people (25 delegates from Asia and the other countries and 50 participants from Japan).
- The event will be in an in-person format.
Partners
We work with the best partners
Research Partners
Media Partners
MEMBERS' EXPERIENCE
What do our members think about AVPN?
HELP
Frequently Asked Questions
Owing to ongoing travel restriction into and out of Japan, the event will be on an invite-only basis with preference given to Catalyst and Vision tier members from AVPN’s network. To learn more about AVPN’s membership programme, please click here.
If you are interested in attending this event, please express your interest through this form.
Please note that only vaccinated individuals can attend the in-person event.
For enquiries, please contact us at [email protected].
If you are interested in sponsoring the Social Investment Forum, please write to [email protected] and [email protected]
Please click here to see the practical guide
1. All relevant items described below should be listed on the certificate either in Japanese or English: Name, date of birth, product name or manufacturer of vaccines, vaccination date, number of COVID-19 vaccine doses (Note 1)
- (Note 1) COVID-19 vaccination certificates written in languages other than Japanese or English are considered as valid if the translation (Japanese/English) is attached and all the items are clearly identifiable.
2. The certificate should prove that at least two doses (As for JCOVDEN / Janssen, one dose is treated as two doses) of any of the COVID-19 vaccines described in the table a. below are inoculated, and any of the COVID-19 vaccines described in the table b. below is inoculated for the third vaccination or after.(Note 2)
- COVID-19 vaccines up to the second dose:
- COMIRNATY, Intramuscular injection / Pfizer
- Vaxzevria, Intramuscular injection / AstraZeneca (Note 3)
- Spikevax, Intramuscular injection / Moderna
- JCOVDEN / Janssen
- COVAXIN / Bharat Biotech
- Nuvaxovid, Intramuscular injection / Novavax (Note 3)
(Note 2) Mix-and-match vaccines are also considered as valid. (Note 3) In applying measures based on New Border Measures (28), COMIRNATY manufactured by Fosun Pharma / BioNTech and Covishield / COVOVAX manufactured by the Serum Institute of India are treated as identical to COMIRNATY, Intramuscular injection / Pfizer and Vaxzevria, Intramuscular injection / AstraZeneca, Nuvaxovid, Intramuscular injection / Novavax respectively.
- COVID-19 vaccines for the third dose or after:
- COMIRNATY, Intramuscular injection / Pfizer (Note 4)
- Spikevax, Intramuscular injection / Moderna
- Nuvaxovid, Intramuscular injection / Novavax (Note 4)
- Vaxzevria, Intramuscular injection / AstraZeneca (Note 4)
- JCOVDEN / Janssen
- COVAXIN / Bharat Biotech (Note : To be recognized as valid after 0:00am(JST) July 31, 2022)
(Note 4) In applying measures based on New border measures (28), COMIRNATY manufactured by Fosun Pharma / BioNTech and Covishield / COVOVAX manufactured by the Serum Institute of India are treated as identical to COMIRNATY, Intramuscular injection / Pfizer and Vaxzevria, Intramuscular injection / AstraZeneca, Nuvaxovid, Intramuscular injection / Novavax respectively.
3. The certificate should be issued by an official body, such as a government.
Indoors: You do not need to wear a mask indoors when you are approximately 2 metres apart from others and when you are not talking. For more information, please visit the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
