NEWS FROM TÜRKİYE

Hurriyet Daily News- The Undersecretariat of The Prime Ministry For Foreign Trade, along with the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), will hold the first World Turkish Entrepreneurs Assembly in Istanbul between April 10 and 11. The convention is aimed at enabling entrepreneurs of Turkish origin to expand network and exchange ideas on various issues. The assembly, where regional issues as well as the global crisis will be discussed, will take place at the Lutfi Kirdar Congress and Exhibition Center in Istanbul. The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen are expected to attend the summit. The organizers received applications from businessmen of Turkish origin from 63 countries; the number is expected to reach some 2,000 participants from 80 countries. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), underlined the importance of the assembly at a press conference. "Millions of Turks, who moved abroad and gathered economic strength, play an important role in turning Türkiye into a global power", he said. "In the past decade, India, China and Israel -the emerging economic powers- have all taken coordinated efforts to gather their diasporas. We need to form and develop a sense of unity as well”. Abdullah Koten, the undersecretary of foreign trade, said entrepreneurs of Turkish origin have an important role in boosting the Turkish economy. Some five million Turkish citizens are currently living abroad. It is also estimated that some 130,000 Turks are currently studying abroad. "These figures reflect the current situation and they are the indicators of the future outlook", Koten said. Muhtar Kent, the CEO of Coca-Cola, said one may come across entrepreneurs of Turkish origin in most parts of the world. "This assembly will contribute to Türkiye in two ways: It will enable managers, entrepreneurs and academicians to cooperate more effectively. Crisis periods are the times for cooperation. The assembly will also give a coordinated voice and create synergy between millions of Turkish businesspeople living and working abroad", Kent said.