ISO 500 and a Busy Schedule

We left behind another busy month full of many activities that we carried out on behalf of our industry. First of all, I would like to talk about our traditional ICI Assembly trip that we organized in the first days of June. Our trip was to Şırnak and Hakkari, two distinguished cities of our country that have been known with terrorism for years, but where peace prevails today. It was full of moments and activities that will remain in our memories for a long time. The first day of our trip started with Cizre and continued on the same day with the most fun and striking part of the trip, the Gabar oil wells. 

We spent all our childhood searching for an answer to the question 'Is there oil in Türkiye?'. Like chasing a beautiful dream, this question has always excited me. Years later, we saw the answer to this question in Gabar: Yes, there is oil in the Gabar Mountains of Türkiye. We witnessed the oil extracted in Gabar together with our Şırnak Governor Mr. Cevdet Atay and Şırnak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TSO) President Mr. Osman Geliş, and our Assembly member industrialists. We felt the pride of seeing the actual outcome of the labor of Turkish Petroleum engineers, the apple of our country's eye. We also signed a very important protocol in Şırnak during our visit. We signed a cooperation protocol with Şırnak Governorship, Şırnak Provincial Directorate of National Education, Şırnak Chamber of Commerce and Industry to implement our Vocational Training and Cooperation project, which was successfully implemented in Istanbul, in Şırnak.

On the second day of our trip, we had a joint Assembly meeting with the Şırnak Chamber of Commerce and Industry and then set off for Hakkari. There, we were welcomed with the close attention of our Governor Mr. Ali Çelik and Hakkari TSO Chairman Mr. Servet Baş. In our joint Assembly meeting with Hakkari TSO, we talked about how our hearts as well as our problems are the same. We discussed what we can do for the economic development of the region. And we made our return from Yüksekova.

I would like to thank once again the Governors of Şırnak and Hakkari, the Presidents of the Chambers and the business people of the region for their warm hospitality during our trip, as you can see in more detail in our magazine with photos and notes.

Last month, as the Istanbul Chamber of Industry, we announced the results of the 'ICI Sustainability Tendency in Industry Survey'. We conducted this study for the first time in Türkiye only for the industry in general. It was conducted with 700 companies across Türkiye in cooperation with Ipsos Research Company. You can find its results on the following pages.

Last month, we held our 2024 Istanbul Chamber of Industry Green Transformation Awards ceremony with the participation of Mr. Mehmet Özhaseki, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. At the ceremony, we presented awards to 26 companies in 6 categories.

On June 25, we announced the 2023 results of the "ISO Türkiye's Top 500 Industrial Enterprises Survey", which is eagerly awaited by our community every year. This year's survey received a great deal of attention in the press and the public as it does every year, and reveals extremely striking data about the current state of our economy and industry. Our study turns 56 this year and is a unique data set for those who want to see what our country needs to do for technology-based, qualified, competitive and value-added production. Hoping that it will be beneficial for country, I wish you all a good and healthy month.

Erdal Bahçıvan
Istanbul Chamber of Industry 
Chairman of the Board of Directors