The Stars Of The Business Diplomacy Shine Out

The Deik Business Diplomacy Awards, Organised  By The Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) For The Second Time This Year, Go To Their Holders

Organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board for the second time this year, the DEİK Business Diplomacy Awards have been held in Istanbul on June 23, 2021. Forming the backbone of DEİK, the Business Councils were deemed worthy of 12 awards in 6 categories within the scope of the activities they have performed in 2020. Hosted by Nail Olpak, President of DEİK, the Business Diplomacy Awards Ceremony was held with the participation of Rıza Tuna Turagay, Deputy Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey, Members of the Executive and Supervisory Boards, Chairpersons of Business Councils, and the significant persons from the business world.

In the 2nd DEİK Business Diplomacy Awards within the scope of the Business Councils Performance Evaluation System, the artists of the business diplomacy have been determined in the categories of “Sponsorship and Budget Management”, “Member Relations and Acquisition”, “Media Visibility”, “Relations with Stakeholders”, “Executive Board Process Management”, and “Outstanding Performance”.

Stating that DEİK has played an effective role in opening new doors to Turkey in the field of foreign trade with its 146 Business Councils, Rıza Tuna Turagay, Deputy Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey, said, “DEİK is a very important business platform that contributes to the economic and trade relations of our country since 1985. On this road to the goals of our country in terms of export and investments, we thank DEİK, which brings synergy with its NGOs that have an outstanding place in our business world. Despite the difficult conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had a growth of 7 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 and the export had a net contribution of 1.1 points in this success. Our export has increased by 38.3 per cent in the first 5 months of the year, reaching USD 85.2 billion. These are great achievements. Our goal is to witness the level of USD 200 billion. When we look at the figures for the last 12 months, we see that we have reached USD 198 billion. We also have good expectations from June. Hence, we will surpass USD 200 billion together and achieve this together as well.

TURAGAY: “WE HAVE THE MODERNISATION OF THE CUSTOMS UNION WE HAVE ESTABLISHED WITH THE EU IN OUR AGENDA”

Emphasizing that the Ministry of Trade spares considerable time on the field of business diplomacy, Turagay said, “We have the modernisation of the Customs Union we have established with the EU in our agenda. With the leadership of our Minister, we carry out intensive and meticulous work on this issue. In addition, the Green Deal and Carbon Border Adjustments are of critical importance with regard to our Turkish business world. Therefore, we work on ‘how can we benefit from EU sources more’ in the next period. We have established boards for the study of this issue and in these boards, our business world organisations such as DEİK are also included. Especially in terms of green spaces, we must take the necessary measures as soon as possible. In addition to these, the USA is an indispensable market for Turkey. We know for a fact that we will also reach higher figures there in terms of export. Our export to the USA has increased by 42 per cent in the first 5 months, and our export to the EU has increased by more than 41 per cent. These also show that we are making progress on this road step by step. I congratulate our Business Councils deemed worthy of the DEİK Business Diplomacy Awards from the depths of my heart. I am thankful to all of you on behalf of the Ministry of Trade. We will bring Turkey to a stronger level together”.

OLPAK: “DESPITE THE PANDEMIC, WE HAVE MANAGED TO OPEN THE RIGHTEST DOORS FOR THE TURKISH BUSINESS WORLD”

Stating that DEİK has managed to open the rightest doors for the Turkish business world with the right key, even though the COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of several doors all over the world, Nail Olpak, President of DEİK, said, “We have carried out 2100 events to which our President of the Republic, Heads of State, Ministers, Ambassadors, Commercial Counsellors, and representatives of counterparts have participated. We have met with tens of thousands of foreign business people. In spite of all the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have intensely maintained our global business diplomacy activities together with our 146 Business Councils as one body. As representatives of the business world whose doors are open, we knocked on new doors all over the world and used the rightest keys in this regard. The keywords we focus on are digitalizing, artificial intelligence, the new order shifting from globalising to glocalising, resource diversity, and the standing out of accessibility in logistics”.

OLPAK: “DEİK ALWAYS HAS MORE TRADE IN ITS BACKBONE”

Touching upon the working areas DEİK has focused on in the new period, Olpak said, “We maintain our works in the issues that our business world must prioritize to get more share from the global trade. We update and follow the trade volume goal of USD 100 billion that is still on the agenda of our bilateral economic relations with the USA under pandemic conditions. In the USA, we have federation-based strategic communication works that target opinion leaders. In terms of our works within the scope of the EU, in addition to the full membership and the update of the Customs Union, we also place importance on the Green Deal that was brought to agenda since the last year. We have a high opinion of the works of our DEİK Green Transformation that support the works of our Ministry of Trade. Together with our Business Councils in the Asia Pacific Region, we have established the ASEAN Working Committee to balance and increase our bilateral trade with the countries in the region. We concentrate on the conversion of logistic superiority of Turkey, particularly in terms of the Belt & Road project of China. We have a work that includes the potential effects of the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area, entered into force at the end of the last year in Africa, on the Turkish firms, the predictions for the countries and that aims at establishing new strategies. Another important work of ours is establishing Overseas Logistics Centres, which is also among the goals of our Trade Ministry. The diaspora activities we carry out with our World Turkish Business Council continue without slowing down. Therefore, we have a very comprehensive agenda that will provide more trade for our country and business world by using all the instruments of commercial diplomacy. The conditions we live under have also hastened the transition to the digital economy. We are planning the “DEİK Start-up Expo” event next February to enable Foreign Venture Capital Funds to invest in technology start-ups in Turkey and establish collaborations with Turkish venture capital funds. We will establish two new Business Councils in the near future. With Paraguay and Uruguay, we will increase the number of Business Councils to 148”. Following the opening speeches of the Business Diplomacy Award Ceremony, Nail Olpak, President of DEİK, and Deputy Minister of Trade Rıza Tuna Turagay presented their awards to 12 Business Councils that were deemed worthy of an award in 6 categories.

“We update and follow the trade volume goal of USD 100 billion that is still on the agenda of our bilateral economic relations with the USA under pandemic conditions”