The countdown has begun for MÜSİAD EXPO 2022, to be held at the TÜYAP İstanbul Fair and Congress Center on 2-5 November. Assessing the IBF Food Security and Preservation of Generations Summit to be held within the scope of the fair, IBF President Erol Yarar emphasized that the goal in food security should not be merely to survive, but to remain healthy.
The MÜSİAD EXPO mixed trade fair, organized every two years by the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD), opens its doors this year for the 19th time at the TÜYAP İstanbul Fair and Congress Center. The International Business Forum (IBF) Food Security and Preservation of Generations Summit to be held within the scope of the fair will also set a comprehensive agenda regarding the food crisis experienced globally and the problems that may arise in the future.
"Not merely surviving, but being healthy is what is needed"
Sharing his assessments regarding the IBF Summit to be held with the theme of Food Security and Preservation of Generations, IBF President Erol Yarar stated that today the issue of food security is not only a matter of eating in a way that keeps one alive, and that humanity's goal is to make possible the creation of a healthy environment that will last for generations.
President Yarar continued his remarks as follows:
"This year's title of the International Business Forum, whose 26th edition we will hold, is in fact a very topical one: food security. After the war between Ukraine and Russia it became the world's number one agenda item and the world came face to face with hunger. Therefore the issue of food security was very important, but alongside food security we brought together for the first time in the world the two important concepts of what we call the preservation of generations. Because on the one hand there is the fear of hunger in the world, and on the other hand we face a very great tragedy in that the foods we consume endanger our lineage. Plants are being degraded, animal generations are being degraded, and the hormonal structures and health of the people who feed on them are being degraded, and generations are increasingly facing the danger of turning into a different human species. Therefore, we will propose important solutions not regarding an economic concept such as food security alone, not natural events, not the risks these will cause, but regarding the dangers that the foods currently being developed will bring to the human lineage, drawing inspiration from the Holy Qur'an and bringing forward certain proofs accompanied by verses and the hadiths of our Prophet. The priority is the protection of the human lineage in food. It is not merely surviving, but being healthy. By combining these concepts for the first time, we will have achieved a very important first at the IBF. Afterwards, since this is a very important subject, we will ensure the continuation of the topic and its presence on Türkiye's agenda not only through the panels we will hold all day, but also by taking it up again with experts at the IBF Turkish-Arab Business Summit that we will hold in Konya six months later."
"MÜSİAD EXPO is the Medina Market of the modern world"
Also touching upon the importance of MÜSİAD EXPO, IBF President Yarar stated that MÜSİAD EXPO strengthens ties with a modern Medina Market understanding and creates the opportunity for new commercial partnerships. In his assessment on the matter, President Yarar included the following statements:
"When looked at from the perspective of the Islamic world, the Islamic realm constitutes the poorest nations of the world. It is not possible to put a stop to this poverty with words. First of all we need to develop trade among Islamic countries. The trade of Islamic countries with one another does not exceed 10 percent of their total trade. When we subtract oil and natural gas from this, it falls below 5 percent. Therefore Islamic countries are dependent on the economic structures of Western and developed economies. To be able to solve this, Islamic countries first need to get to know one another and to develop their trade with one another. This determination that we made in 1993 is unfortunately still valid even today, valid statistically and valid in actual fact. Therefore, in order to change this situation, we need to take an action, to make a move. Here, the phenomenon we call MÜSİAD EXPO is unfortunately the only international activity that is the most important and is carried out continuously in order to eliminate this. We organize MÜSİAD EXPO in Türkiye every two years so that MÜSİAD member business people and our IBF members in all Islamic countries can meet one another, hold B2B talks and actually see the products. God willing, in the coming years we want to hold this event once at home and once abroad. MÜSİAD EXPO, as the present-day version of the Medina Market that our Prophet started in Medina 1400 years ago in order to bring together Islamic countries and Muslim merchants, is a unique and special activity in the world."