2020 Events

AmCham Turkey and Bilişim Vadisi, a Technopark with strong technologic infrastructure, organized a Start-up Demo Day for AmCham members on July 22nd. The Demo Day hosted 9 Start-ups determined in line with the expectations of the member companies.

AmCham Turkey Public & Government Affairs Committee has launched a new webinar series under the leadership of Canan Özsoy and in collaboration with the U.S. Commercial Services to address the new normal in different sectors. The first webinar of the series addressed “The New Normal in the Energy Sector” featuring Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources ALPARSLAN BAYRAKTAR and Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy STEVE WINBERG.

AmCham Turkey, in cooperation with its member BTS & Partners organized a webinar on the practices around Business & Employment Law during Covid-19. The session featured a presentation from Zeynep ÜNLÜ, Partner at BTS & Partners. The topics covered at the Webinar includes; Remote working format application by corporates; Short time working format application by corporates; Termination restrictions; How did employment shape during this period; Forecast and predictions about the future of business life for corporates.

AmCham Turkey, in collaboration with its program partners Korn Ferry and EMCC Turkey, launched the 6th term of its Executive Mentorship Program. The event kicked-off with an opening speech from Korn Ferry Turkey General Manager Banu BAŞOL, and continued with Mentorship training by Rıza KADILAR, EMCC’s Global President. The launch event has been attended by 17 Mentor-Mentee matches among AmCham members including: Coca-Cola - BMS - Citrix - Dow - General Electric - Honeywell - IBM - Iron Mountain - Johnson Controls – KPMG - Lilly - Mars – MetLife - Mondelez - Procter & Gamble - Royal Canin - Takeda - UPS

AmCham Turkey, in cooperation with its member NAZALI Tax & Legal organized a webinar on the amendment of the Turkish Competition Act featuring Associate Professor Gamze AŞÇIOĞLU ÖZ, ODTÜ and Metin PEKTAŞ, Partner, NAZALI Tax & Legal Services. The topics covered at the Webinar includes 'Main Points of the Law Proposal' and 'Enforcement of the Turkish Competition Authority'.

AmCham Turkey Board Members organized an online meeting with A. BURAK DAĞLIOĞLU, President at the Presidency of Investment with a focus on the extension of existing investments and Global Value Chains during and post Covid-19 period.

AmCham Turkey members attended to an online meeting with MEHMET FATİH KACIR, Deputy Minister of Industry & Technology, to discuss: Prioritized issues in the normalization period; Alignment of supply chain, localization and incentive issues; Expansion of support mechanisms addressing R&D and innovation in the post-Covid-19 period; AmCham Turkey Start-up and SME Expansion Program and E-commerce.

AmCham Turkey, in cooperation with its member BTS & Partners organized a webinar on cybersecurity and data transfer during Covid-19 featuring Yasin BECENİ, Managing Partner at BTS & Partners and Onur KOÇ, Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft. The topics covered at the Webinar includes Cybersecurity – How to Define & Manage the Risks; Current & Future Trends on Cybersecurity Risks & Technologies; Best Practices for Cybersecurity – Data Protection & Governance at Enterprises; Global Trends on Cybersecurity-Privacy Regulations & Policies; International Data Flows – Global Outlook/Turkey’s Perspective and Start Ups @ Cybersecurity & Privacy Enhancement Technologies.

AmCham Turkey, in cooperation with its member EY organized a briefing webinar on customs procedures during Covid-19 including global trade impact of Covid-19, measures against Covid-19, incentives and facilitation. The session featured presentations from: Sercan Bahadır, Global Trade Leader-Partner @EY and Yakup Güneş, Senior Manager @EY.

As AmCham Turkey, we celebrated the 5th year of our Executive Mentorship Program with our Mentors, Mentees and program partners EMCC and Korn Ferry at a Webinar featuring: Rıza KADILAR – EMCC Global President // Banu BAŞOL – Korn Ferry Turkey General Manager // Hülya ÜSTEL - Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Founder of TA Institute. We discussed mental health and psychological resilience during the pandemic.

AmCham Turkey hosted US Ambassador DAVID SATTERFIELD at its online Board Meeting to get his insights on Turkey-US economic relations during the Covid-19 outbreak.

AmCham Turkey Board members attended to an online meeting with FUAT OKTAY, Vice President of Turkey, to discuss ways to increase/maximize the impact of US investments in the Covid & post-Covid periods. Details of AmCham Turkey’s “US Investments Report” prepared by PwC was shared with the Vice President.

AmCham Turkey hosted ALAN BEEBE, President of AmCham China to get his insights and recommendations for U.S. Businesses on Covid-19 recovery.

AmCham Turkey, in cooperation with YASED, organized a Webinar with TUNA TURAGAY, Deputy Minister of Trade, Republic of Turkey on “Public-Private Common Agenda & Areas of Cooperation in the Days of Covid-19".

AmCham Turkey, in cooperation with Esin Attorney Partnership organized a series of seminars on the legal aspects of Covid-19. April 9 I Personal Data Management during COVID-19 Outbreak // April 16 I Employment Law Perspective: Effects of COVID-19 Outbreak on the Business World // April 30 I Supply Chain Disruption Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

AmCham Turkey organized a Webinar on "Europe's Approach to Covid-19: Business Continuity & Social Impacts" featuring: - SUSAN DANGER, CEO of AmCham EU &Chair of AmChams in Europe - JORIS POLLET, Director of Government Relations, Europe & Global Operations, Procter & Gamble

AmCham Turkey Healthcare & Life Sciences Committee hosted DERYA UNUTMAZ, Professor of Immunology at the Jackson Laboratory based in New York at a Webinar on "The Recent Developments Pertaining to the Covid-19 Outbreak".

AmCham Digital Economy Committee organized a committee meeting featuring Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Turkey's Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology.

AmCham Turkey organized its 5th International Women’s Day event, in cooperation with EBRD. The event hosted 2 panels featuring Canan ÖZSOY, AmCham Turkey Deputy Chair & General Electric, Turkey President & CEO // Selçuk YORGANCIOĞLU, Managing Partner, Tork Partners // Haluk YALÇIN, PwC Turkey, Territory Senior Partner // İsmail ESİN, Managing Partner, Esin Attorney Partnership // Burcu KAYIMTU, CEO, TBWA // Didem DURU, General Manager, Cisco // Ece AKSEL, General Manager, PepsiCo // Filiz YAVUZ DİREN, General Manager, Philip Morris Sabancı // Pavle DJURIC, Principal Counsel, Financial Law, EBRD

AmCham Board Members visited the Vice President of Turkey Fuat Oktay in Ankara with a focus on bilateral economic relations and U.S. investments.

The meeting led by AmCham Chair Tankut Turnaoglu of P&G focused on AmCham's 5 priorities for 2020. This year, AmCham Turkey General Assembly hosted President of Presidency Investment Office A. Burak Dağlıoğlu, U.S. Ambassador David Satterfield, Umran Beba of PepsiCo and 50+ AmCham member companies.

AmCham Turkey Board members had a roundtable meeting with U.S. Congressional delegation to Turkey led by Senator Jerry Moran to discuss bilateral economic relations & investment prospects between Turkey and the U.S.

AmCham Turkey Food & Agriculture Committee, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture organized a joint reception at CG’s Residence featuring Clay Hamilton, USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service Associate Administrator.

AmCham Turkey Board members met with the Mayor of Istanbul Ekrem İmamoğlu with a focus to highlight possible cooperation areas matching the U.S. companies capabilities & expertise with the goal of making Istanbul a regional hub.

AmCham Turkey Board members attended to U.S. Chamber of Commerce & TAIK’s breakfast meeting to discuss ways to maximize the impact of the 2020 annual conference on US-Turkey relations – which is postponed to a later date and currently being held via Webinars due to Covid-19 outbreak.

AmCham "Coffee Talks" sessions continue with Dupont, with a focus on innovation. Dupont EMEA President Pierrick Le-Gallo & Turkey MD Halide Aydınlık hosted AmCham members at Dupont's Innovation Center in Istanbul focusing on automotive, construction, food, and energy industries.

The first AmCham “Coffee Talks” session of the year was hosted by Esin Attorney Partnership on "Arbitration: Expensive, Time Consuming and for Big Cases. Is it True or False?" featuring Prof. Dr. Ziya Akıncı, President of Istanbul Arbitration Centre as the guest speaker.