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About DEİK

Upon its establishment in 1985, the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEİK) was assigned with the following tasks: to organise and manage the foreign economic relations of the Turkish private sector, in particular with respect to foreign trade, international investments, services, contracting and logistics; to analyse investment opportunities at home and abroad; to help boost the country’s exports, and to coordinate similar business development activities.

In 2014, DEİK was restructured, and with law No: 6552 of 11 September 2014 assigned the task of “conducting the foreign economic relations of the Turkish private sector”, to become “business diplomacy” organisation comprising Business Councils, Founding Institutions and individual members that represent Türkiye’s business community and its leading entrepreneurs, contributing to the functioning of the institution on a ‘voluntary basis’.

DEiK in Figures

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DEiK’s Vision

With each passing day, globalisation brings people, countries and even continents closer together; mutual relationships increase, physical borders are removed and international capital flows ever more freely as the world economy is reshaped. As a consequence, foreign economic relations can no longer be reduced to imports, exports and investments alone. In these changing times, DEİK views foreign economic relations as far more than trade and of an importance beyond influence, global policies and representation of one’s country.

DEİK sees itself as more than an organisation of businesspeople because it takes foreign economic relations as the basis of today’s civilisation, as agent of intercultural exchange and as driving force of humanity’s development. DEİK is Türkiye’s window to the world; its global representative of our country’s values, vision and potential; the founder of a network through which our country interacts with global players; the mind that understands the world in terms foreign economy; the “global horizon” of our country.

Based on this understanding, DEİK pursues the following vision:

Türkiye:

  • Serving as an example for economic and political development on a regional and global level based on cooperation between the private and the public sector and civil society;
  • Achieving macro-economic stability;
  • Being globally competitive with leading entrepreneurs and brands;
  • Producing high-tech;
  • Innovating;
  • Having a significant share in world trade;
  • Being one of the world’s foremost investment,finance and R&D centres;
  • Applying modern standards in all areas.

DEiK’s Mission

DEİK is an important representative of the Turkish economy and its productive, value adding, employment and foreign trade potential. DEİK owes this capacity to both its Founding Institutions and the companies represented by its members.

DEİK wants to fulfill its duty in the establishment of a social order committed to a competitive market economy, sustainable development and participative democracy. To achieve these;

  • To express its point of view to public organisations and institutions whenever the occasion arises;
  • To help companies deepen their market presence and to access new markets;
  • To organise national and international events;
  • To formulate and implement strategies and policies on foreign economic relations;
  • To generate the information required by the business community in its foreign economic relations;
  • To carry out activities designed to attract direct foreign investments to Türkiye;
  • To broaden the national, regional and global networks the private sector relies on in its activities;
  • To organise training programmes to improve the corporate capacity of companies with the purpose of advancing them to become global players;
  • To carry out activities that support the country’s diplomacy and contribute to the development of bilateral and multilateral social relationships;
  • To represent the Turkish business community in international and multinational organisations, and to advocate for the country on international platforms.

DEiK’s Endeavor

DEİK organises international events in order to advance the cooperation between Türkiye and other countries as well as business sectors, and to boost the bilateral trade volume. The events bring together high-level representatives, politicians, representatives of the business community, businesspeople, entrepreneurs, academicians and representatives of civil society organisations from Türkiye and foreign countries, and serve the purpose of creating high-quality business relations and mutually beneficial areas of cooperation.

Through its cooperation with international organisations, the development of existing collaborations and other activities, DEİK provides novel opportunities for the Turkish business community. Besides the organisation of “events”, DEİK is also committed to “competency”-oriented activities.

They include strategy development on issues related to foreign economic relations. For this purpose, DEİK carries out studies and publishes papers and reports with a focus on the Turkish business community in foreign economic relations.

In this context, DEİK works on the establishment and development of competencies such as the export of services, mutual investments as well as on improvement of exporting and financing capacity of SMEs, while at the same regularly reviewing and renewing its understanding of corporate entrepreneurship in line with the changing conditions of our time. These activities are carried out by the experienced staff DEİK employs at its head office, and with the support of “Working Groups” composed of DEİK members.

DEİK is an association comprised of several organs: General Assembly, Board of Directors, Executive Board and Supervisory Board, and carries out its activities with the aid of its Founding Institutions and Members who are the representatives of the Turkish private sector. The Business Councils constitute the backbone of DEİK, while their Executive Committees are responsible for the implementation of the decisions taken by DEİK’s institutional organs.

The Executive Board is elected by the Board of Directors among its own members. It comprises 13 members and is composed as follows: one member representing each of TOBB, TİM, MÜSİAD and TMB, two representatives of other Founding Institutions, three Business Council Presidents and one Member of the General Assembly. The President of the Board of Directors is also the chairman of the Executive Board. The President is assisted by two Deputy Presidents elected among the Members of the Executive Board, while the Accountant Board Member is a natural

DEİK’s Business Councils are the backbone of the organisation. Their task is to implement the decisions taken by DEİK’s organs. Business Councils complete their tasks through their own Executive Committees.

DEİK’s Board of Directors is elected by the General Assembly for a four-years term. It has 35 Members, including the President. The Board of Directors is composed of the following members: one member each representing the Founding Institutions, TOBB, TİM, MÜSİAD and TMB, with the remaining members elected among the other Founding Institutions, the Presidents of the Business Councils and Delegates. The President of the Board of Directors is appointed by the Minister of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye.

The Board of Auditors is selected by the General Assembly among its members for a term of four years. It is composed of five members and five substituting ones. Members of the Board of Auditors must not at the same time assume any task in/at DEİK or Business Councils.

The General Secretariat is the executive branch of the organisation formed by professionals. Its highest-level manager is the Secretary General who reports directly to the Board of Directors. The General Secretariat is tasked and authorised to organise the meetings of the board of directors and all organs related to it, to report the agenda, decisions and activities, to implement decisions and to carry out all activities related to the programming, budgeting, execution and reporting of all activities of the organisation. The General Secretariat also steers the work of the Business Councils within the strategic framework defined by the Board of Directors, and it

DEiK’s Business Councils

With the aid of Executive Committees, DEİK’s Business Councils implement the decisions taken by DEİK executive organs. They are the fundamental units of the organisation and establish the bilateral, multilateral and corporate cooperations in the countries, sectors and areas of interest for which they are responsible. There are three different kinds of Business Councils at DEİK: “Bilateral Business Councils”, “Sector-Specific Business Councils” and “Business Councils with Specific Purposes”.

Business Councils with Specific Purposes

DEİK’s two Business Councils with Specific Purposes are Turkish World Business Council (2007), which unites Turkish businesspeople and entrepreneurs, domiciled abroad and The Foreign Investment Business Council was established in 2013 with the purpose of understanding the dynamics of Turkish private sector investments in foreign countries, of generating solutions for needs arising in connection with such investments, and of ensuring a high degree of coordination with the state in this respect. The Council aims to become one of Türkiye’s leading corporate organisation in this area.

The Modus Operandi of the Business Councils

The Bilateral Business Councils, the Sector-Specific Business Councils and Business Councils with Specific Purposes have separate general assemblies which hold regular and annual meetings. Every other year, the Business Council’s General Assembly elects members to its organ, the Executive Committee which in turn elects the Business Council’s President among its members. The Executive Committees hold regular meetings and assess bilateral and multilateral cooperation opportunities, problems and current developments. They develop proposals for policies, solutions and mechanisms designed to improve trade and economic relations. The strategic master framework defined by DEİK’s Board of Directors serves as basis for those proposals. The Executive Committees also decide on studies to be carried out with the purpose of identifying opportunities. The Business Councils have additional task of organising promotional activities that fall into their area of responsibility.

Bilateral Business Councils

DEİK’s bilateral Business Councils are established on the basis of cooperation agreements signed with counterpart organisations. Their purpose is to develop and deepen bilateral economic relations with the respective country. They hold regular annual “Joint Business Council Meetings” with their counterpart organisations in the private sector of the respective country.

Sector-Specific Business Councils

The knowledge acquired and generated by DEİK’s bilateral Business Councils has become available for sectororiented studies in order to improve its vertical benefits. In 2010, DEİK’s Board of Directors decided to establish Sector-Specific Business Councils. Their purpose is to gather valuable sector-related information in one place and, in collaboration with the public and the private sector as well as with civil society organisations, to establish development plans. In this context, the sectorspecific Business Councils conduct bilateral business talks and organise promotional meetings abroad. They further prepare sector-based reports and cooperate with foreign representatives of defined target countries on the advancement of their relations. For the purpose of improving the position of Türkiye in the global value chain and of developing our service export potential, DEİK established the following sector-specific Business Councils: Health Business Council (2010), Higher Education Business Council (2011), Energy Business Council (2013), Logistics Business Council (2013), International Technical Consulting Business Council (2013).

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