The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) hopes to make the Turkey Wealth Fund (TVF) a major partner, just as Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund became their largest client, the bank's managing director for Turkey, said on Friday.

Speaking on the second day of Forum Istanbul, Jean-Patrick Marquet said they want to contribute with TVF to develop finance infrastructure, energy projects and the capital market. The TVF, of which EBRD is a 10 percent shareholder, is Turkey's sovereign wealth fund and was established in 2016. The TVF's mission is to develop Turkey's strategic assets, increase their value and provide funding for Turkey's priority investments.

"Turkey is a very large, dynamic, sophisticated economy. But one surprising weakness is the fact that capital markets are relatively shallow," Marquet said. Noting that one of the EBRD's major objectives was to increase the number of Turkish companies listed on Borsa Istanbul and on global stock markets, Marquet said the TVF could be the catalyst to effectively bring about deeper capital markets.