The youth branch of Türkiye's Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSIAD) held a summit as part of the Young Trade Ambassadors Project to bring together successful international students studying in seven cities across the country.
The Young Trade Ambassadors project is an independent initiative developed by Genç MÜSIAD, or Young MÜSIAD in English, and is designed to improve the commercial relations between Türkiye and the countries its international students come from since there are students from 203 different countries studying in Türkiye.
The project provides free "Foreign Trade Specialization Training" to Turkish university undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students as well as recently graduated overseas students. The students who successfully complete the program will be given a certificate that has been approved by the Continuing Education Center of the institutions in the relevant city.
The event was held at the MÜSIAD headquarters in Istanbul on Saturday and was attended by Mustafa Gültepe, the head of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), Deputy Trade Minister Rıza Tuna Turagay and Alim Bayel, Kazakhstan's consul general in Istanbul.
For his part. Köksal Toptan, the former speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM), emphasized the achievements of the international students, their contributions and their importance for Türkiye.
In this opening speech, MÜSIAD President Mahmut Asmalı welcomed the participants who traveled from Sakarya, Ankara, Konya, Bursa, Kocaeli and Istanbul to attend the event, highlighting the importance of the summit and the role of young international students in improving trade between countries.
The president of Genç MÜSIAD, Yunus Furkan Akbal, shared the results of a survey conducted by the association showing the contributions of international students in enhancing Türkiye's trade relations.
Elaborating on the project, Akbal said education and training have been provided in seven different cities for the last six years to help international students improve their skills and environment, which in turn increases their contribution to Türkiye's foreign trade.
The aim of the project is to bring together qualified human resources with the ability to speak foreign languages and an effective network abroad. This network will then bring the products and services offered in Türkiye, which has a very strong infrastructure in terms of production and services, to international markets.
The main agenda of the summit was to underline the difference between refugees and international students while highlighting the critical role these students have assumed in the development of the country's foreign trade.
At the summit, the students who successfully graduated from the project this year and last year were awarded the title of "Young Trade Ambassador."
The graduates also shared their MÜSIAD success stories and thanked the organization for its efforts. Expressing their warm gratitude to Türkiye for not only taking them in but also taking care of their futures, they added: "Thank God, we are in Türkiye."