5th Turkey Innovation Week starts in Istanbul

The 5th Turkey Innovation Week, during which dozens of innovation gurus from 10 different countries in various disciplines will meet, started on Dec. 8 in Istanbul. 

The three-day event is organized by the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TİM) in a bid to support innovative ideas and works to strengthen sustainable development under the coordination of the Economy Ministry.

Prominent professionals, industrialists, academics and students from various backgrounds come together during the event, which is sponsored by Arçelik, TEB, Turkish Airlines, Sabancı Holding, Çalık Holding and Turkcell. 

Participants of the event will be able to visit dozens of innovation, R&D project and entrepreneurship exhibitions in the venue. 

The opening ceremony at the Istanbul Congress Center was hosted by TİM President Mehmet Büyükekşi, and was attended by Science, Industry and Technology Minister Faruk Özlü, Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin, and many leading businesspeople.

Özlü underlined the importance of innovation in writing Turkey's new economy narrative in his opening remarks. 

"A production and export-based growth model does not describe properly what Turkey needs. A model that is based on research and development [R&D] and innovation is much more appropriate to define what we need. We have often spoken about Turkey's foreign trade deficit and current account gap. These are an obvious result of Turkey's technology gap, which is the main problem of Turkey. If we close this gap, other gaps will automatically be closed," he said. 

In a speech addressing more than 2,000 students from 140 universities, Büyükekşi said Turkey can reach its 2023 targets and become a technology-producing country under the leadership of young...