Enver Yücel Calls for Investment in Türkiye

The annual "Global Business Summit" was held this year on 5 April 2012 at Brandeis University, one of the leading universities in the USA. This year's summit addressed the theme of "Expanding Exports and International Partnership." Enver Yücel, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Bahçeşehir University, the summit's partner in Türkiye, gave a speech and called on the countries attending the summit to invest in Türkiye.
 

The "Global Business Summit," hosted by Boston-based Brandeis University, was attended by CEOs of nearly 150 international companies from the USA and around the world, economists, entrepreneurs and participants from various countries. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick gave a speech at the summit. Describing business opportunities in the USA and Massachusetts, Governor Patrick said: "Massachusetts is an attractive region for business thanks to its strength in education, innovation and infrastructure. The state has a highly educated workforce, and its entrepreneurial culture attracts innovative sectors."
 

In addition to Türkiye, Brazil, India and Israel as emerging markets, the summit discussed topics such as "Business Opportunities in Korea and the Asian Region," "Business Opportunities in the South American Region," "Doing Business with Europe," "Business Opportunities in Germany and the UK," "Export Financing," "Foreign Investors" and "Working with Partners and Suppliers."
 

"TÜRKİYE'S MEDIUM-TERM TARGET IS AFRICA"
 

The summit's "Emerging Markets and Türkiye" panel was chaired by Prime Ministry Advisor Mehmet Kasapoğlu. Boston Consul General Murat Lütem, Focus Education Center CEO Begüm Özdoğularlı and Bahçeşehir University Chair of the Board of Trustees Enver Yücel took part in the panel as speakers. In his speech, Yücel stated that very important work has been done on entrepreneurship and innovation in recent years. Yücel said: "My country, Türkiye, has become a shining star of the world in recent years. Entrepreneurs and innovators now receive great support in Türkiye. Two days ago I was invited to Harvard University. I explained it there as well. I started out with a two-room tutoring center when I was in my final year of high school. Now the number of these institutions has risen to 200. 150,000 students study at these institutions. Seven years ago, I also opened an institution called Fulbright in Washington DC. Colleges followed later. The number of these institutions is now close to thirty. Then, in 1998, I founded Bahçeşehir University. It has become an institution with 13,000 students on the shores of the Bosphorus. The most important feature of our university is that it attaches importance to international relations and has relations with nearly 180 universities around the world. Now I want to increase the number of these institutions in various parts of the world, especially in the USA."
 

Yücel said: "I believe the education sector will still be the pioneer of change and development in the world. The role of education in the development of international relations and international trade is very important. For example, Türkiye's medium-term target is Africa. While thinking about what I should do as an entrepreneur, I decided that we will take one or two scholarship students from every country in Africa and give them a quality education. Because we can increase contacts and relations through people. As these relations develop, trade relations will also develop. Of course, the great fortune of us entrepreneurs in Türkiye over the last ten years has been the current government, which supports us in every respect. We see a stable structure. The way is always being opened for the private sector. Of course, our way is also being opened, and our government supports us greatly in developing our international relations.

"INVEST IN TÜRKİYE"
 

Future developments in Türkiye will be based on technology. We have 17 million students, and our state has made a decision: every student will be given a tablet computer. Of course, this will pioneer the development of various sectors in Türkiye. My suggestion to you is to invest in Türkiye in this field. It should be seen as an important business opportunity, especially for technology and software companies and education content providers. A large sector will emerge, and these tablets will be given to every student within four years. That is why, as a university, we will be in the Boston and Palo Alto regions. We want to develop technology. I say that we can make such breakthroughs and initiatives together with you. I am also the chair of civil society organizations in Türkiye, and I founded the 'World Education Entrepreneurs Association.' Our headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. I would like to show you everything I have described here on site. I invite you to Türkiye and Istanbul, one of the developing and fastest-growing countries in the world," he concluded.
 

The 2012 "Global Business Summit" continued with discussions on developments and policies in the world economy.