Turkiye will host the US-led trade mission and business development forum “Trade Winds Europe/Eurasia” again after 16 years, and the international trade wind will blow in Istanbul with more than 300 local and foreign participants.
According to the information obtained by the AA correspondent, the event, designed to help companies achieve growth and visibility in certain markets or regions around the world, will be held on May 13-15.
More than 300 participants in total will have access to experienced industry professionals and experts from government institutions, as well as opportunities to meet one-on-one with US “commercial diplomats”, discover the best industry potentials, and establish new connections with US and global companies.
The US Department of Commerce’s choice of Turkiye and Istanbul as locations is seen as an important, strong and encouraging message to investors and the business world.
US companies participating in Trade Winds are expected to be mostly from the energy, aerospace and defense, security, electronics, healthcare and satellite technologies sectors.
Trade Winds is one of the biggest events in the USA
At the information meeting held at the US Embassy in Ankara regarding the event, Senior Eurasia Region Commercial Undersecretary Heather Byrnes and Economy Undersecretary Etienne LeBailly made evaluations.
Byrnes said Trade Winds is the U.S. Department of Commerce’s largest global annual event and is held in different countries each year.
Recalling that the first event was held in Istanbul in 2008, Byrnes said, “The event is returning to Istanbul. A total of 120-150 US companies will come. The US Department of Commerce and the US Department of State are also participating in the event. In addition, visitors working in the field of commercial relations from 30 different markets in the region will also be hosted. The prominent market here will be Turkiye. Later, side events will be held in Europe and Kazakhstan. The event provides bilateral benefits and helps Turkish companies enter the US market.”
Byrnes pointed out that almost all of the well-known “Fortune 500” companies have a presence or activity in Turkiye, and stated that US-Turkiye commercial relations go back a long way.
Emphasizing that Turkiye is in a very central position geopolitically, Byrnes stated that they see this as a serious potential.
Byrnes said:
“Every year, US companies follow with curiosity which market will be selected for this event. They also attach importance to the guidance of the US Department of Commerce on this issue. The selected country is considered as a market that offers great opportunities and requires attention. For this reason, I think the re-election of Istanbul is perceived as a sign that draws attention to the opportunities Turkiye offers.”
“It is not a coincidence that Turkiye and Istanbul were chosen”
Undersecretary of Economy LeBailly also said that Turkiye is at an extremely central point due to its geographical location.
Drawing attention to the importance of the event, LeBailly said:
“US and Turkish companies have common points that allow them to work together in different regions. The advantage of Turkiye’s geographical location is that it can work with Europe and Asia at the same time. When the high quality in the production industry is added to this, Turkiye becomes more attractive for US companies. Hosting Trade Winds is a highly competitive process. In this sense, it is not a coincidence that Turkiye and Istanbul were chosen. Turkiye is an ideal market in itself for US companies.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz