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Please join us for a webinar that will highlight some of the many advantages and opportunities of investing and doing business in Turkey
About this event
On behalf of the Investment Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey and the Canada Turkey Business Council, you are cordially invited to join a webinar that will highlight some of the many advantages and opportunities of investing and doing business in Turkey.
Program
11:00 – 11:05 Introduction by Mike Ward | Executive Director, CTBC
11:05 – 11:15 Opening Remarks
- Kerim Uras | Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Canada
- Jamal Khokhar | Ambassador of Canada to Turkey
11:15 – 11.30 Presentation: Investing and Doing Business in Turkey by Necmettin Kaymaz, US Country Director, Investment Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey
11:30 – 11:45 Presentation: Financing Canadian Businesses in Turkey by Export Development Canada by Famer Engin, Senior Regional Manager (Turkey)
11:45 – 12:00 Q&A
Why Turkey
- The Turkish economy achieved annual average GDP growth of 4.6% over the past 20 years.
- Turkey was one of only two G-20 economies that avoided contraction and posted overall positive growth (1.8%) in 2020; the economy is expected to grow a further 6% in 2021. (IMF estimates)
- With a population of 84 million, Turkey has a dynamic and growing domestic market.
- Because Turkey is surrounded by major economies in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, it offers excellent access to a lucrative multi-country market of 1.5 billion people worth about US$24 trillion, all within a four-hour flight radius. As a result, operating in and from Turkey can provide Canadian firms with an abundance of regional opportunities.
- With its diversified manufacturing and services industries, skilled labor force, strategic location, free trade agreements (Custom Union with the EU and free trade agreements with around 20 countries), logistics infrastructure, and many other capabilities, Turkey is an ideal location for Canadian companies as a hub for manufacturing, management, and export as well as a reliable partner to plug into global value chains.
- Robust regulatory and technological infrastructure in the financial markets, in line with international standards.
- Diversified product range and high liquidity especially in the equity market.
- The Canada/Turkey Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), announced by the two governments in 2019, will significantly raise commercial prospects for Canadian firms in Turkey and the larger geographic region moving forward.
About the Speakers
His Excellency Kerim Uras, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Canada
His Excellency Kerim Uras has served as Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Canada since December 2017. Prior to his appointment he served as Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey and as a member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Board at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2018. He has also served as Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Greece (2011-2016) and as Ambassador Designate to Israel (2010-2011).
Ambassador Uras began his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey in 1985 as an attaché in the Greece-Cyprus (1985-87) and NATO (1989) Departments. After these assignments he was appointed as Vice-Consul at the Turkish Consulate General in Hannover (1989-92), before he was assigned to the Turkish Embassy to Cyprus as Second, later First Secretary (1992-95). He returned to Ankara as First Secretary at the Middle East Department (1995-1997), before taking an assignment as Counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in London (1997-2001). On his return from London he became Head of Department for Bilateral Relations with the European Countries (2001-2003), and also Head of the Iraq Department (2003). For his next assignment he joined the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations in New York as Counsellor, First Counsellor and Deputy Permanent Representative (2003-2007), before returning once more to Ankara to serve as Deputy Director General for Bilateral Relations with North Eastern Mediterranean Countries (2007-2011).
His Excellency Jamal Khokar, Ambassador of Canada to the Republic of Turkey
HIs Excellency Jamal Khokhar has been Canada’s Ambassador to Turkey since November 2019. Concurrently, he is accredited to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. From 2010-2015, he was Canada’s Ambassador to Brazil.
As a senior career diplomat with Global Affairs Canada, his other key appointments included being Director General for Latin America and the Caribbean where he was responsible for the full range of Canada’s bilateral engagement in the region. In this capacity, he was instrumental in developing Canada’s Americas Strategy. Later, he was the Regional Director General for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), where he redesigned and oversaw bilateral development assistance programming in region. This included oversight for programming in Haiti at the time of the 2010 earthquake, then Canada’s second largest bilateral aid program. Other notable international assignments included serving five years at Canada’s Embassy to the United States, in Washington DC, as Deputy Head of the Economic and Trade Policy Section; and, later as Minister-Counsellor and Head of the Congressional and Legal Affairs Section. Foreign assignments also included Lagos, Nigeria, and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Necmettin Kaymaz, US Country Director, Investment Office of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey
Necmettin Kaymaz has been working with the Presidential Investment Office of Turkey since its establishment in 2007. Right after joining the Office, Mr. Kaymaz established the Directorate of Economic and Sectoral Research and managed it for six years. Afterward, Mr. Kaymaz took several senior roles in project management and strategy development with the Office. Based in Washington, DC, he currently serves as the US Country Director for the Investment Office. Prior to joining Invest in Turkey, Mr. Kaymaz worked for the UN and EU institutions in New York and Brussels in various capacities. He holds postgraduate degrees from Linkoping University and the Open University of Catalonia.
Famer Engin, Senior Regional Manager (Turkey) Export Development Canada
Famer Engin is a senior regional manager at EDC, Canada’s official export credit agency, and is in charge of business development in the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asian regions. He worked as a financial advisor for EKF, Denmark’s export credit agency, before joining EDC. Prior to his role for EKF, he worked as the deputy general manager at Renova Economics and Investment Consulting. He started his career in Citigroup corporate and investment banking in New York and worked as a vice president in its fixed-income division. He holds a master’s degree from Cornell University.