The Water Impact Fund is launching with capital of HUF 5 billion, but aims to attract EUR 200 million in venture capital for businesses that contribute to resolving issues such as access to clean drinking water and sewerage, and more efficient use of water in industrial settings, MFB Chairman-CEO Levente Sipos-Tompa was cited as saying in a report by state news agency MTI.

The fund, which will be managed by Susterra Capital Partners, will target businesses in Hungary at the start, but will expand its outreach to Central Europe as more investors join, said MFB Invest CEO Csaba Bugár. If Asian investors join the fund, its horizons could extend to companies in Asia, he added.

The fund will run for ten years, including a five-year investment period and a five-year exit period. It is expected to generate an annual yield of 12%, Bugár said.

More than 2,300 people from 118 countries are participating at the Budapest Water Summit running October 15-17.

GGGI moves to Budapest

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), an international organization that advises governments on green growth opportunities, will move its European office from London to Budapest under a cooperation agreement signed at the Budapest Water Summit.

The agreement was signed by Frank Rijsberman, who heads the GGGIʼs European office, and Péter Kaderják, state secretary for energy and climate policy at the Ministry for Innovation and Technology.

The agreement lays the foundations for cooperation between Hungary and the GGGI until the end of 2022, Kaderják said.

Since Hungary joined the GGGI in 2016, the two have partnered on three projects, in Uganda, in the Western Balkans, and in the Vojvodina region of Serbia.

So far 33 countries have joined the GGGI, Rijsberman noted.