“Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experi- ence,” says Paulo Coelho, a novelist and lyricist known for his work “The Alchemist”.

As DEIK, we keep taking steps towards our goals and new achievements with the purpose of carrying out our business diplomacy activities in a more effective manner. We have been maintaining our activities with our founding institutions, members and Business Councils since 1985, under our understanding that prioritizes braveness and experience, to strengthen the dynamics of the Turkish economy and to carry Türkiye’s power to the world. Through our 151 Business Council, we maintain our activities with the understanding of “busi- ness diplomacy” in order to increase investment and trade between countries, under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Türkiye, with the support and coordination of Mehmet Muş, our Minister of Trade.

Recently, we held the opening of our new headquarters and II. Respect to Masters Award Ceremony in Istanbul on May 27, 2022, with the participation of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, Mehmet Muş, Minister of Trade, Nureddin Nebati, Minister of Treasury and Finance, DEIK Board of Directors and Supervisory Board Members and Business Council Chairpersons. Following the opening of DEIK’s new headquarters in Skyland, we awarded the masters of business diplomacy, the compass of the Turkish busi- ness world, at the Respect to Masters Award Ceremony, which we held for the second time this year. We present- ed the Grand Master Award to Mr. Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, and respective awards to Rona Yırcalı, Şerif Egeli, Jak Kamhi, and Ibrahim Bodur, the masters of the DEIK family in the field of business diplomacy.

Following the normalization of our relations with Sau- di Arabia, we held our Türkiye-Saudi Arabia Business and Investment Roundtable Meeting in Ankara with the participation of Ajlan Al Ajlan, President of the Council of Saudi Chambers, and representatives of the Turkish and Saudi Arabian business world as part of the visit of Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, to Türkiye.

Afterwards, we held the second session of our Türki- ye-Saudi Arabia Business and Investment Roundtable Meeting, once again in Ankara on June 23, 2022, with the participation of Mehmet Muş, Minister of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye, Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, Minister of Commerce of Saudi Arabia, Khalid bin Ab- dulaziz Al-Falih, Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia, Mustafa Tuzcu, Deputy Minister of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye, Badr Al Badr, Deputy Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia, Fatih Ulusoy, Ambassador of Riyadh, Fatih Gürsoy, Chairperson of DEIK/Türkiye-Saudi Arabia Business Council, and businesspeople. As the business world, we are working on gaining momentum in the trade relations between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia and we will keep striving to regain the years lost. While our leaders pave the way through political decisions, we will keep striving to regain the years we lost. Honoured by Shahbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of the Republic of Pakistan, we held our DEIK/Türkiye-Pakistan Business Council Meeting with Mehmet Muş, Minister of Trade, and Distinguished Ministers of Pakistan on June 1, 2022, in Ankara.

Besides, as DEIK, we brought together the Montenegrin delegation and the prominent individuals of the Turkish business world in Istanbul. Our business dinner, given by the DEIK/Türkiye-Montenegro Business Council in honour of Milo Dukanovic, President of Montenegro, was held with the participation of Turkish businesspeople and the Montenegrin delegation. At the dinner, we discussed mutual investment, trade and economic cooperation opportunities between Türkiye and Montenegro.

In addition, as part of the 15 July Democracy and Na- tional Unity Day Commemoration activities, on the eve of the 6th anniversary of our beloved nation’s heroic stance against the treacherous coup attempt of July 15, we opened our “July 15 Collaboration Based on Trust” Photography Exhibition. We presented our exhibition to our DEIK members at our new headquarters for 22 days.

In Paulo Coelho’s words, we will make more efforts to bravely acquire new experiences in the upcoming period as well. In this issue of our Business Diplomacy journal, where we cover logistics, smart agricultural technologies and entrepreneurship, we made our cover interview with Vahit Kirişci, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and in the evaluations we made with valuable businesspeople and scholars, we covered opinions on significant issues such as critical steps to be taken in entrepreneurship activities and the digital period in the logistics sector.

Enjoy your reading, and stay safe.