TBCCI  Members Evening Reception was held at on 10 March 2008 where TBCCI members met fellow-chamber members, Directors of the Board and new Chamber members introduced to the delegates and the press. The Chairman and the Vice Chairman in their welcome speeches gave information about the activities and projects the Chamber planned for this year. We were delighted that HE The Turkish Ambassador to London, the Turkish Consul General, Turkish diplomats and Ms Annette Jones, the new Head of the Turkey section of  the UK Trade & Invest joined us at this evening.

TBCCI Annual Ball, 31 May 2008: Mr Mehmet Simsek, Minister of State in charge of the Economy will be the Turkish Guest Speaker at the TBCCI Annual Ball. If you have not yet made your bookings, contact us at info@tbcci.org or call 020 7321 0999. To book online or for more information about Ball Sponsorships, Tables, Tickets, Advertisements or for your donations for the Raffle and Auction, visit our website www.tbcci.org.  For a short biography of the Minister, please click here

Click here for a biography of Mr Mehmet Simsek

FORTHCOMING CHAMBER EVENTS
-  Turkey Capital Market Forum, 29 April 2008
-  Health & Safety Online Training, 30 April 2008
-  2nd Food, Drinks and Catering Initiative, 8 May 2008
-  Doing Business in the UK, 27 May 2008
-  Business & Investment Summit, Turkey, 5-6 June 2008
-  Corporate Social Responsibility, 30 April 2008

For your bookings for these events, please contact us at info@tbcci.org or (+) 44 20 7321 0999. To view the full Event Diary, click here.

Turkey Capital Market Forum, 29 April 2008, Istanbul

This Forum is organised by Financial Times Global Events and The Banker.
The TBCCI is an Event Partner of the Forum.

Venue: Istanbul Stock Exchange, Istanbul, Turkey
Turkey Capital Markets Forum will provide new ideas and insights into how the economy and financial markets are developing in Turkey. Gathering key international and local decision-makers, who will highlight the latest trends in finance, this timely event will identify key areas of growth, track the latest trends in the corporate and investment climate and appraise strategies to raise domestic and international capital. For information about the forum agenda, speakers and registration, visit
www.tbcci.org/turkey_capital_markets_forum.php, or
www.ftglobalevents.com/turkishmarkets.

Please note: complimentary or reduced rate places at the event may be offered to TBCCI members, depending on them meeting the delegate profile. To find out the delegate profile, click here and contact our office.

Health & Safety Online Training Seminar, 30 April 2008, London
Health and Safety issues and the new TBCCI Online Training product will be presented at the Business Briefing, Wednesday, 30 April, 6.00 pm, 2nd Floor Bury House, Bury Street, London SW1Y 6AU. The speaker will be Karen Hoskins, Health & Safety Manager for Essex Chambers of Commerce, a licensed Auditor with qualifications in IOSH Managing Safely, NEBOSH National General Certificate and Diploma pt1.  
For details, see www.tbcci.org/health_safety.php.

The 2nd Food, Drinks and Catering Initiative, May 2008, London
The developments in the Turkish food and cuisine sector will be presented at a panel by the directors of companies and officials serving the industry. The spread Turkish food culture and getting Turkish products into the chains will also be discussed. The presentations will include, a general overview of the sector, Quality and Standard Issues, Food and Beverage Importing, Regulatory Matters, Branding: Organic Food Production and Marketing Issues of the sector. Please see www.tbcci.org/second_food_initiative.php.

Doing Business in the UK, 27 May 2008, Istanbul
Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, BCCT (British Chamber of Commerce of Turkey) and the TBCCI are pleased to announce this special high-profile conference, which will be followed by a reception and networking among fellow Chamber members and other members of the Turkish British business community in Turkey. The Conference will reflect the three Chambers’ expertise and cooperation. The presentations will include:
- Information for the company set up and for managing current businesses in UK
- Identification of key practices involved in doing business with or in the UK
- Guidance for finding business or investment partners in the UK and Export
- Advantages and disadvantages of doing business
- Insight to how doing trade with Turkey is regarded in the UK
The venue will be Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Istanbul. For more information about the event, speakers and presentations or to register,
see www.tbcci.org/doing_business_uk.php.

Business & Investment Summit, Turkey, 5-6 June 2008
This major event is organised by the European Finance Convention in collaboration with the Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency and DEIK (Foreign Economic Relations Board) of Turkey.

The main themes and presentations at this summit are:
-  Foreign Direct Investment (FDI); ‘user guide’, success stories
-  Fiscal and Governmental incentives, legal framework
-  FDI and the role of the banking sector; impact of the Euro, Islamic finance
-  Investing in Turkey; the Capital Markets routes
-  Istanbul; towards a new international financial centre
-  Infrastructure, PPP, privatisation, concessions, etc
-  Turkey; a business friendly gateway between Europe, Middle East & Central Asia
There will be simultaneous translation in English and Turkish.

The TBCCI is a supporting organisation of this two day Summit.
TBCCI members will be entitled to a 20% discount on registration fee; TBCCI members should quote “TBCCI member 20%” on their registration form. Further details of this event will be posted shortly on our website.

Health & Safety Online Training
The TBCCI, in association with the Essex Chambers of Commerce, has launched a new custom built ‘Health & Safety Online Course’ in both English and Turkish language versions. Health and Safety Training will be delivered to company employees via the TBCCI website. This Managed Training System will allow employers to train their employees simply and efficiently by providing logging-on to the TBCCI website to complete their health and safety training. Managers will be able to view progress and produce reports to confirm training has taken place. Upon completion for the course, the employees will receive a certificate given by a licensed Auditor. The TBCCI has organised a Health & Safety and Online Training seminar on 30 April 2008 in London. Please see www.tbcci.org/health_safety.php

While the course contains essential materials that are legal requirements in the UK and applicable and required also internationally, this online training will be particularly relevant to Turkish companies who plan to set up new company or open a branch in the UK to address the local Health and Safety regulations.
To view the TBCCI Health and Safety website in English, click here
To view the TBCCI Health and Safety website in Turkish, click here

Cooperation with BCCT (the British Chamber of Commerce of Turkey)
The TBCCI is very pleased to announce a series of new joint seminars and networking events as part of the increased cooperation between the BCCT and the TBCCI to be able to offer more extended services and opportunities to their members. Together with the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, the two Chambers are the organisers of the Doing Business in the UK event on 27 May 2008 in Istanbul. This event below is among the series of joint seminar and networking events offered as part of the cooperation between the two Chambers of Commerce to offer more extended services to their members.

Seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS),  30 April 2008, Istanbul
TBCCI members are invited to a business breakfast seminar on Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) on Wednesday 30th April 2008 at The Sofa Hotel, Frida Meeting Room, Nişantaşı, Istanbul at 09.00 a.m. Guest of honour Prof. Dennis Driscoll, University Lecturer will be speaking on the actuality of CSR in a rapidly changing environment, from constraints to opportunity, overview about compliance to world and EU standards and regulations, Labour law and human rights, supply chain capacity building and stakeholder dialogue and the role of CSR in creating new markets. Further details about this event will be posted on our website shortly. To book for this event, contact Ms Eda Akalın, BCCT Projects Development Manager, +90 (212) 249 0420 / 249 0658, edaakalin@bcct.org.tr

Trade & Partnership Opportunities, Company Matching
All trade and partnership offers and enquiries communicated to the Chamber are placed on the same day on the Members Zone of the TBCCI website, www.tbcci.org.
March 2008 Trade and Partnership enquiries and offers from the UK, Turkey and other countries have been also sent to members by email.


UK-Turkey Trade Statistics for 2008 January
We had reported earlier that in 2007, the trade between the UK and Turkey had grown 18.0%, reaching 14.1 billion US Dollars, the highest figure to date. In the first of this year, the trade between the countries continued to grow at a rate of 34.6%.

Click on a Member Link to view contacts and business profile.