Vocational Training Conferences: Turkish Way to Support Investments

Istanbul, Turkey | December 07, 2007 by D-8 Secretariat

Turkey has already made great strides in becoming a highly attractive location for foreign investors, and it has rapidly improved its economic competitiveness over the past few years, reports the Turkish TodaysZaman Newspaper.

European investors will increasingly come to recognize Turkey as an ideal location for production and that this would result in an enormous increase of FDI. However, the key to maintaining and expanding upon these improvements remains the further development of a qualified work force, especially in the vocational training sector. This was the central lesson of a conference titled “Vocational Training in Turkey and its European Dimension — Cooperation, Opportunities and Goals” held by the German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce (AHK) in Istanbul yesterday.

High-ranking representatives from the areas of industry, trade and education from both Germany and Turkey came together to focus on the current situation of the Turkish vocational training sector and to discuss the problems it faces. Examples of success in the sector were presented and discussed, and further opportunities for cooperation in the field were explored.

AHK President Teoman Yelkencioğlu said Europe will continue to be an especially important partner for Turkey. More than 50 percent of Turkey’s exports currently go to EU countries, he pointed out. Additionally, he said, European investors will increasingly come to recognize Turkey as an ideal location for production and that this would result in an enormous increase of foreign direct investment. He said, “The number of German companies that have come to Turkey throughout the last seven years has increased sixfold — from 500 companies in 2000 to 3,000 this year.” He explained that the primary motivating factor in these remarkable developments these is a “highly motivated and well-qualified work force.” He stressed his hope that the conference would be another step towards further improving upon these developments.

The importance of education in Turkey was also the main point emphasized by Eckart Cuntz, the German ambassador to Turkey. “Neither Turkey nor Germany has many natural resources,” he said, adding: “That is why our wealth has to come from our intellectual resources. This is our true potential.”

The ambassador said Turkey would soon look back on good years, having won many foreign investors. He also expressed pride in the role German investors are playing in Turkey’s success. “[German investors] do good work in Turkey by creating workplaces, improving technological exchange and by fighting the unregistered economy through the introduction of social security standards,” he said. “At long last,” he added, “Turkey is no longer a developing country.” However, he pointed out that the key task was now to improve education, especially vocational training.

Tamer Taşkın, a board member of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), explained why vocational education was of such high importance for Turkey. Describing the advantages of vocational training, he said: “From the very beginning the young people are active in all aspects of business. They take part in all important areas of an enterprise. They have contact with clients and gain a significant amount of practical experience.” He especially recommended the dual model of vocational education, which combines theory with practical application. “Learning by doing in combination with theoretical background — that is what we need,” he said.

Also participating in the conference were Otto Kentzler, president of the Central Organization of German Handicrafts; Tuğrul Kudatgobilik, president of the Turkish Confederation of Employers’ Unions (TİSK), Bendevi Palandöken, president of the Turkish Tradesmen’s and Artisans’ Confederation (TESK), Suat Yalkın, president of the İstanbul Union of Craftsmen and Artisans’ Chambers (İSTESOB) and Mahmut Tüncel, project coordinator at the Turkish Ministry of Education.

D-8 Organization Director, Amb. Kia Tabatabaee commenting on the issue expressed his keen interest to see such training and conferences be held in other D-8 memberstates as one of means to support foreign direct investment. “We expect that our member states can learn from Turkey and other countries, where investment is the driving force toward economic development and providing jobs,” he said in his office on Wednesday.

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