On 5 May 2021, the EU SME Centre organised an online conference together with EUROCHAMBRES and Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI) with the support of Enterprise Europe Network. This is the first activity jointly organised after an MoU was signed between the EU SME Centre and ICI.
The conference was organised as a part of a series of online conferences, hosted by ICI, named “Country Days”, which have been held in recent years. The latest conferences have had a special focus on Asia to support the development of commercial relations between Turkey and Asian countries. The last Country Day, named China Cooperation Day, looked into China’s current business and investment opportunities in 2021.
The conference, which gathered around 220 participants, was opened by Mr. Erdal Bahçıvan, Chairman of the Board of ICI who emphasized the key role of Turkey as bridge between Europe and China.
He was followed by the EU SME Centre’s Director, Mr. Renzo Isler, who presented the phase III of the EU SME Centre project, which offers a wide range of services that are now available for Turkish SMEs as well. Mr. Isler expressed his pleasure to support the internationalisation of Turkish SMEs into China and extended an invitation to Mr. Abdulkadir Emin Önen, Ambassador of Turkey in Beijing, to meet for a cup of Turkish coffee and discuss about future cooperation.
The opening remarks were closed by Mr. Abdulkadir Emin Önen, Ambassador of Turkey in Beijing, who highlighted that bilateral relations between Turkey and China are expanding progressively covering from strategic collaboration to more deep and specific fields. He encouraged companies to intensify connections with Chinese partners while remarked the great achievement of China when fighting the pandemic.
The EU SME Centre’s expert, Mrs. Kristina Koehler-Coluccia, presented China’s Economic Outlook, where she talked about China’s stimulus policies, the US-EU-China triangle and the impact on European relations, China’s management of Covid-19 and the path to economic recovery remarking specific opportunities that the market offers to foreign businesses.
Mrs. Koehler-Coluccia encouraged participating companies not to let the virus or the restrictions on mobility delay their China plans by saying: “Whether you can set foot in China or not, you still have a full ecosystem to support your business. Embassies and consulates in China have been able to sign contracts with Chinese partners on behalf of European business”.
The conference finished with the testimonials of two Turkeys companies operating in China and finished with questions asked by the participants to the panelists.
The recording of the webinar is available on our YouTube channel. If you missed this conference stay tuned and be the first to watch it!
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