Our Aim Is To Make DEİK a Platform in the Field of Technology and Digitalisation

Sezai Karakoç, a poet, author, and thinker we lost last year, says in his book titled “İnsanlığın Dirilişi” (Rebirth of Humanity) that “Humanity has to discuss the issue of civilization once again and return to the civilization of truth to be renewed and it must be revived, gain a new spirit and life, and resurrect itself, as the spirit of humanity is bound to rebirth.”

As DEİK, we have been maintaining our activities with our founding institutions, members and Business Councils since 1985, under our innovative understanding, to strengthen the dynamics of the Turkish economy and to carry Türkiye’s power to the world. Through our 148 Business Council, we maintain our activities with the understanding of “business 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.

DEİK’s journey started in a room in the office of Şarık Tara, Chairperson of the Türkiye-Japan Business Council. Afterwards, a part of the TOBB office in Beyoğu Odakule was decided to be reserved for DEİK. In 1987, the office on the 9th floor of this building was put into service. Then, in 2004, a part of TOBB Plaza was reserved for DEİK. In 2015, as DEİK, we moved to our location in Levent and maintained our activities on two floors of a plaza for 7 years.

As Karakoç stated, we moved to our new location in Seyrantepe with our Business Councils in order to be renewed, gain life with a new spirit and be more efficient, and carry out our business in a more representative environment. We maintain our business diplomacy activities more effectively in our new centre, where our Business Councils feel like they are in their personal offices with its spacious and modular meeting rooms and useful area.

On the other hand, we began to use digital technology and artificial intelligence, both of which we have been talking about at any opportunity since the outbreak of the pandemic, in a more widespread and quicker way than we thought we would. Also, it seems that we are talking about a new Digital Economy, not just a digitalisation in which we are involved in every aspect of our lives. In this direction, as DEİK, we aim to be a platform in the field of technology and digitalisation through our new Business Council that we established to adapt to digitalisation. For this reason, we established our 148th Business Council named “Digital Technologies”. Under this Business Council, we aim to execute national and international activities that will grow the DEİK eco-system by following the developments in the field of digital technology, considering our rapidly digitalising world and economies. Our main priorities include making Türkiye a centre of digital technologies, establishing digital corridors with other countries, promoting the digital transformation of companies, and ensuring access to international markets and finance for venture capital efforts.

Under our Business Council, we also aim to work on the adaptation process for new technology trends and encouragement of investments, blockchain technology applications and cryptocurrencies, wearable technologies, 5G, augmented reality and metaverse/virtual reality, cloud technology, robots and artificial intelligence, cyber security, internet of things, financial technologies (FinTech), gaming, smart buildings and cities, electric aviation and vehicles, other areas where opportunities are seen, and new trends.

For this purpose, we discussed the investment opportunities in the Turkic States and the relations between the United Arab Emirates and Türkiye in the evaluations we made with valuable businesspeople and academicians in the present issue of our Business Diplomacy journal where we cover technology, sustainability, and energy issues. Enjoy your reading, and stay safe.