Between April 15th and April 17th, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) co-hosted the "Turkey Investment Week," bringing a delegation of Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Ali Babacan, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarciklioglu and Turkish business leaders to visit leading members of the American business community.
TACCI President Celal Secilmis, TACCI Vice President Sevil Ozisik and TACCI Board Member Bahadir Inozu participated in this three day program that covered a very intensive agenda in three cities; New York, Atlanta, Washington as representatives of TACCI, a prominent trade organization among the Turkish, American and International business people, government officials and Turkish-American society.
On the very first day of the program, TOBB President Hisarciklioglu and TACCI President Secilmis gathered with visiting Chamber Presidents from Turkey at a Roundtable discussion.
TACCI President Celal Secilmis made a presentation to the group and introduced TACCI and its services. Mr. Secilmis also mentioned the business environment in the U.S. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session.
The USA Chamber of Commerce Senior Advisor Greg Lebedev hosted a welcome coffee for the delegation consisted of 72 people at the Waldorf Astoria. Later on, Prime Minister Deputy Ali Babacan and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarciklioglu met with the CEO of the American International Group (AIG), Peter Hancock at the AIG headquarters. The meeting was attended by representatives of such prominent companies of the USA as AIG, PFIZER, TE Connectivity and Henry Schein. Speaking at the lunch, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu shared his views regarding the process of transformation Turkey's economy is undergoing, and the investment opportunities in Turkey. After the meeting, the Turkish deputy premier attended to the United Nations Global Management Meeting and met with the Citi Group CEO Mike Corbat to exchange ideas on the global economy as well as Turkey's.
The first day's program concluded with a visit to the NASDAQ studio. The delegation paid a visit to NASDAQ to ring the closure gong. At the ceremony, Babacan reminded that had recently conducted the opening of Exchange Istanbul, and stated that they wish to establish closer ties between it and NASDAQ.
On Tuesday, April 16th, 2013, the delegation continued their contacts in the frame of "Turkey Investment Week" in Atlanta. The day started with a breakfast meeting with Federal Reserve Bank Governor and CEO Dennis Lockhart and followed by a meeting with Georgia Governor Nathan Deal. Later on, the delegation visited the CNN studios in Atlanta where Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan talked to CNN.
At Goizueta Business School, Mr. Babacan gave a public talk on Turkey's economic growth and potential as a manufacturing and investment hub for American companies. Babacan's lecture shared the pressing need for political leaders and institutions to address the lack of confidence within the economy today. He highlighted many of the international relationships, organizations, and investments that have allowed Turkey to expand its regional influence.
Ali Babacan's next stop in Atlanta was the headquarters of Coca Cola where he was welcomed by Muhtar Kent, the CEO of the company. The one to one meeting lasted for about an hour and later on, the delegation was hosted at a dinner by Mr. Kent at the headquarters.
On Wednesday, April 17th, 2013, the delegation was in Washington to complete the last leg of the "Turkey Investment Week".
First, the delegation paid a visit to the TOBB Washington Branch where Ali Babacan and the delegation accompanying him were briefed regarding TOBB's activities in the USA by TOBB USA Representative and Permanent Representative to TACCI Neslihan Kaptanoğlu. Later on, the delegation led to a lunch meeting with the representatives of top pharmaceutical companies to discuss the life sciences sector in Turkey.
The meeting with pharmaceutical companies was followed by a meeting with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of several large American firms where they were introduced to the Turkish Incentive Scheme by TOBB President Rifat Hisarciklioglu. The working lunch was hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The three day program was concluded by a gala dinner on Wednesday evening and among the attendees were; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce member companies and high level U.S. government officials as well as the delegation from Turkey.
Meeting with the Hatay Chamber of Pharmacists on April 24th, 2013
On April 24th, TACCI hosted a meeting with representatives of Hatay Chamber of Pharmacists. The meeting was started with the introduction of both parts. TACCI President Celal Secilmis introduced TACCI and mentioned its activities and services.The group was also informed about the talks on the life sciences sector with the top U.S. pharmacological companies on April 17th, in Washington in the frame of the "Turkey Investment Week".
Later on, the guests shared their insights on the meetings and fairs they attended. Their busy schedule included the INTERPHEX, the leading annual pharmaceutical and bio-pharmaceutical trade show held at the Javits Center in New York as well as the meetings that they had in different cities; Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Atlantic City. The representatives of the Chamber stated that those meetings helped a lot to their understanding of the pharmaceutical sector in the U.S.
At the end of the meeting, the group expressed their appreciation about the meeting by presenting their gift to Mr. Celal Secilmis on the behalf of Hatay Chamber of Pharmacists.
