FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS BOARD (DEİK) BUSINESS COUNCILS’ GENERAL ASSEMBLY WAS HELD IN ISTANBUL ON JANUARY 11, 2020

In the DEİK Business Councils’ Elective General Assembly, new chairpersons were elected with a total of 2,530 votes from members. President Nail Olpak said in his speech at the Elective General Assembly: “I thank the Business Council Chairmen and Executive Boards that hand over their duties after 2 years and wish those who take over their duties great success in this new period. Our Business Councils are our backbones and the purpose of a backbone is to provide maximum strength, flexibility and as much efficient support as possible to our body. We will continue to achieve greater success with our Business Councils in the days to come.”

121 Business Councils Made Election With a Single List
There was an agreement in 121 business councils out of 145, and the election was made with a single list. Olpak stated that there was an election race in 24 business councils and continued his words as: “There was a race in 16 percent of our councils. 80 percent of our members gained the right to elect and be elected by fulfilling their obligations, and 94 percent of them voted in the elections. We had 15 Business Council Chairwomen in the last period. Now we have 19 Business Council Chairwomen.”

35 Members Were Elected for Board of Directors in the Ordinary General Assembly Also, DEİK’s 33rd Ordinary General Assembly

Also, DEİK’s 33rd Ordinary General Assembly and Re- spect to Masters Awards, hosted by President of DEİK Nail Olpak, were held in Istanbul on January 25, 2020 with the participation of T.R. Minister of Trade, Ruhsar Pekcan. Having 96 Founding Institutions and Corporate Members, DEİK elected 35 Board of Directors Members and 5 Board of Supervisors Members for the new 4-year term in the 33rd Ordinary General Assembly. The Board of Directors consists of 35 members including the members representing the four main Founding Institutions and acting as the Deputy Chairmen, with the remaining 9 Members representing Founding Institutions and Corporate Members, 11 Members from Business Councils Chairmen, 10 DEİK Members and the Chairperson of the Board of Directors.

The Masters of the Trade Diplomacy Were Awarded
In the Respect to Masters Awards after the 33rd Ordinary General Assembly of DEİK, Pioneers Awards who laid the foundations of DEİK were awarded. In the ceremony, former State Minister Kürşat Tüzmen and President Nail Olpak gave the award of Founding Chairperson of Turkey-US Business Council, decedent Mehmet Ersin Faralya, who also cast one of the cornerstones of DEİK, to his son Serdar Faralyalı. The first President of the Turkey-US Business Council, decedent Feyyaz Berker’s award was given to Tekfen Holding Board of Directors Member Mehmet Ercan Kumcu by former Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci and Nail Olpak. DEİK’s Honorary Member and the top senior member Ali Nihat Gökyiğit received his award from T.R. Minister of Foreign Affairs Mehmet Çavuşoğlu and Nail Olpak. And the first President of DEİK and former Minister of Industry and Trade, Ali Coşkun received his award from Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan and Nail Olpak.

Business Diplomacy Awards Ceremony was held by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) for the first time on January 11, 2020 in Istanbul with the participation of T.R. Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan. In the ceremony, 14 awards under 7 categories and the Business Diplomacy Honor Award were given.

Minister Ruhsar Pekcan stated in his speech at the ceremony that DEİK is a non-governmental organization representing the unity of the Turkish private sector in the trade life.

We Believe in the Tenacity and Horizons of Business Councils

President of DEİK Nail Olpak stated his belief in the tenacity and horizons of Business Councils, saying they are the leading institution conducting Turkey’s trade diplomacy with 146 Business Councils all around the world.

In the event, where there were two winners for each category as group A and group B-C countries, Business Diplomacy Honor Award was granted to Minister Ruhsar Pekcan. The Business Councils that were awarded are as follows:

SPONSORSHIP AND BUDGET MANAGEMENT CATEGORY:
The winner of group A countries was Turkey-US Business Council and Chairperson of the Business Council Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ received the award. Turkey- Nigeria Business Council was the winner of group B-C and the Business Council Chairperson Osman Aksoy received the award.

MEMBER RELATIONS AND ACQUIRING CATEGORY:
Among Sectoral Business Councils, Health Business Council became the winner and Business Council Chairperson Orhan Gazi Yiğitbaşı received the award. The winner of group B-C was Turkey-Syria Business Council and Business Council Chairperson Sait Kılıç received the award.

MEDIA VISIBILITY CATEGORY:

The winner of group A countries was Turkey-US Business Council and Chairperson of the Business Council Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ received the award. The winner of group B-C was Turkey-Hungary Business Council and Business Council Chairperson Adnan Polat received the award.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH SHAREHOLDERS CATEGORY:
The winner of group A countries was Turkey-China Business Council and Chairperson of the Business Council Murat Kolbaşı received the award. The winner of group B-C was Turkey-Angola Business Council and Business Council Chairperson Abdullah Eriş received the award.

EXECUTIVE BOARD PROCESS MANAGEMENT CATEGORY:
The winner of group A countries was Turkey-Azerbaijan Business Council and Chairperson of the Business Council Selçuk Akat received the award. The winner of group B-C was Turkey-Bulgaria Business Council and Business Council Chairperson Osman Ak received the award.

TARGET-ACHIEVING CATEGORY:

The winner of the category was Foreign Investments Business Council and Business Council Chairperson Mahmut Volkan Kara received the award. The winner of group B-C was Turkey-Serbia Business Council and Business Council Chairperson Bayram Akgül received the award.w

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE CATEGORY:

The winner of the category was again Turkey-US Business Council and Business Council Chairperson Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ received the award. The winner of group B-C was Turkey-Libya Business Council and Business Council Chairperson Muzaffer Aksoy received the award.