A New Period for DEİK Business Councils

Hosted by Nail Olpak, President of DEİK, 2021 Elective Ordinary General Assemblies of Business Councils were held by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) on January 15, 2022, in Istanbul. The Elective General Assembly of 147 Business Councils, operating under the umbrella of DEİK as ‘Bilateral Business Councils’, ‘Sectoral Business Councils’, and ‘Special Purpose Business Councils’, was held simultaneously on the same day and the new term Presidents and Executive Board Members of Business Councils were elected. As a result of the elections, 74 chairpersons were replaced. While 60 chairpersons continued their duties, 45 businesspeople took part in business councils as a chairperson for the first time.

Olpak: “We regard the elections as an opportunity to do better”

Giving a speech at the General Assembly elections and stating that they have successfully left behind a good stage of being a business world non-governmental organisation, Nail Olpak, President of DEİK, said, “We made a very critical choice in terms of DEİK’s upcoming activities in a mildly competitive environment. In addition to the elections held with a single list in many of our Business Councils upon agreement, there are also multiple lists with more than one candidate. I consider this very natural and I can even tell that it is necessary. Because competition brings quality as long as it happens within the framework of rules and ethical values. Today, we are glad that many of our businesspeople became candidates to achieve better. We expect our Business Council Chairpersons to increase their business diplomacy activities in the new period and to improve the results of their activities in numbers. As DEİK Board of Directors, we maintained objectivity and achieved a fair election environment during the election. I would like to thank all our members who offered their support to this process, and wish the Chairpersons of Business Councils and Members of the Executive Board the best of luck.”

Olpak: “We manage the business diplomacy of our country together”

Having also elaborating on the activities of DEİK Business Councils in the 2-year period and emphasizing that they witnessed many changes along with the whole world due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Olpak said, “At first we were worried like everyone else but soon we adapted to the process through online meetings, webinars, and then hybrid meetings. Looking at the things we were talking about two years ago, the uncertainties of the period, and our agenda today, we see that despite the problems experienced in this process, which the whole world is facing, our pluses outweigh the cons. As a result of the partial normalization, we took our baggage off the shelves once again and we are on our way to new collaborations.”

Having said that in the 37-year journey, DEİK has been managing the business diplomacy of our country together with our 147 Business Councils spread all over the world, as a business platform acting as the window of our businesspeople to the outside world, Olpak stated that they plan to open a new business council after the General Assembly elections and emphasized that there is no other structure that operates over country based business councils spread all over the world, like the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) does.

Olpak: “We endeavour to take our business diplomacy activities further”

Olpak said, “In case we think that the necessity of being human is to move towards the better, as DEİK, we endeavour to carry our business diplomacy activities further on the way to success for our country, as a whole, with the 147 Business Councils we have,” and continued, “We are aware that we have a long way ahead of us. We will keep going on our way better than before. The General Assembly that we held today is also a good opportunity for us to recover, renew ourselves and for our future. I wish the General Assembly of Business Councils, where the Chairpersons and Executive Boards of our Business Councils undertaking the representation of the Turkish Business World in 139 countries and regions and 6 sectoral fields will be beneficial.”