10th Competitiveness Congress, hosted since 2005 by the Federation of Industrial Associations, a member of Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TÜRKONFED) welcomed businesspeople, entrepreneurs and academics on January 28th 2016. The congress was held in joint cooperation with TÜRKOFED, SEDEFED and TÜSİAD – Sabancı University Competition Forum at the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) Foreign Trade Complex Congress Hall, with this year’s theme being ‘Competitiveness, Supply Import Policies and Smart Regulations’.
10th Competitiveness Congress
The Congress started off with opening remarks by Tarkan Kadooğlu, TÜRKONFED President, Sefa Targıt, SEDEFED President, Şükrü Ünlütürk, TÜSİAD Vice-President, Murat Akyüz, TİM Board Member and Prof. Dr. Nihat Berker, REF Co-Chair. After the opening remarks, Dr. Philipp Rösler, World Economic Forum Managing Board Member and former German Minister of Economics and Technology gave his speech as this year’s guest keynote speaker, followed by a presentation by Dr. M. Fevzi Toksoy on the findings of the research workshop that took place prior to the Congress, where sectoral associations’ representatives discussed trade policy instruments and imported intermediate goods in the Turkish context. The Congress ended after a panel discussion with senior sectoral association members, moderated by Timur Erk, Turkish Chemical Manufacturers Association President.
Among the issues discussed at the Congress was, promoting value-added production on intermediate goods trade, supporting national and private competitiveness in relation to commodities supply and businesses’ adaptability to innovation and information technology. In his speech, Dr. Philipp Rösler laid the emphasis on productivity and forward thinking, saying: ‘Today the big fish no longer eat the small fish, but the fast fish eat the slow. If you want to boost your productivity, you have to speed up.'
10th Competitiveness Congress Photo Gallery