MÜSİAD EXPO 2020, the largest fair held after the pandemic and one that drew intense interest from both exhibitors and visitors, was completed successfully. Nearly 15 thousand visitors from 102 countries, primarily from Europe, Asia-Pacific, Eurasia, Africa and the MENA countries, attended the four-day fair. At the fair, held under the slogan “Global Trade is Here”, 400 purchasing delegations from 50 countries were hosted. At the summit, where many events were held, 19 memoranda of understanding (MoU) from 4 continents were also signed. The virtual fair of EXPO 2020 will remain open to online visitors until 28 November.
 
MÜSİAD EXPO 2020, organized every two years by the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) in order to be the language of communication and the bridge of the Turkish economy in the fields of trade and investment, was completed successfully.
 
This year the fair, which consolidated its strong brand image not only as the most widely attended fair of the pandemic period but also by achieving many firsts, hosted nearly 15 thousand visitors in an area of 70 thousand square metres.
 
MÜSİAD EXPO, held at the TÜYAP Fair and Congress Centre in accordance with the pandemic rules and the TSE COVID 19 Safe Service standards, also received participation and visits from the virtual environment thanks to its distinction of being the first hybrid fair. In the organization, which was carried out without disregarding the Mask, Distance and Hygiene rule in any way, all exhibitors and visitors were admitted after careful checks and contactless technologies were used in the fair area.
 
The fair, which was opened by Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank, was also visited by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister Varank said: “Comprehensive events such as MÜSİAD EXPO help us develop new cooperation with countries with which our trade volume is low. In these difficult days we are going through, the joint investment, joint production and joint trade opportunities established between countries will enable a strong economic immunity to be developed against the outbreak. The winners of the post-outbreak period will be those who establish cooperation today and act quickly.”
 
HUNDREDS OF COMPANIES FROM 24 SECTORS TOOK PART

MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan, who said that 400 purchasing delegations from 50 countries were hosted within the scope of MÜSİAD EXPO 2020, stated that they held MÜSİAD EXPO 2020, which took place with the participation of hundreds of companies from 24 sectors, in order to be effective and useful in the new-period economic road map during this difficult process of the pandemic.
 
Recalling that there was stand participation in the fair from many countries, from Venezuela to Uzbekistan and from Indonesia to Germany, Kaan said: “The intense demand from the countries of Europe, Asia-Pacific, Eurasia, Africa and MENA encouraged us in supporting our country's new-period investment policies.”
 
TÜYAP General Manager İlhan Ersözlü, who said that MÜSİAD Expo was held at the TÜYAP Fair and Congress Centre in accordance with the pandemic rules and the TSE COVID 19 Safe Service standards, stated that MÜSİAD EXPO, with its distinction of being the first Hybrid fair, continues to host its exhibitors and visitors from the virtual environment as well. He noted that in the organization they carried out without disregarding the Mask, Distance and Hygiene rule in any way, they admitted all exhibitors and visitors after careful checks and used contactless technologies in the fair area. According to the results of the survey we conducted with our exhibitors after the fair, we determined that 89 percent of our exhibitors were satisfied with the fair and that again %96 of our exhibitors are considering taking part in the next fair. These results pleased us greatly and I would like to state that we have already quickly begun the preparations for the 2022 fair. Saying that they hosted the purchasing delegations in the best way at Tüyap Palas, Ersözlü said: “As the TÜYAP Management, I thank the Müstakil Fuarcılık and MÜSİAD management for the cooperation on the MÜSİAD EXPO 2020 Fair.”
 
GREAT INTEREST IN THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AREA AT EXPO 2020

Kaan, who conveyed that in the Entrepreneurship Area, one of the firsts of this year's fair, the projects that have become Türkiye's new investment power were exhibited and that this area attracted considerable interest from visitors, underlined that likewise the electric vehicles, the rightful pride of the Turkish world, which met with visitors within the scope of the fair, were received with intense interest.
 
MANY FIRSTS WERE ACHIEVED

At this year's EXPO, the Caravan Tourism initiatives, which were designed as a project by MÜSİAD for the first time and which, within the scope of the project to develop new tourism resources and to diversify tourism investments, were presented to the public and found a considerable following, were also exhibited.At the fair, launches were also held for the Smart Agricultural Town Project, the Caravan Park Project and the Pandemic (Field) Hospital in MÜSİAD Valley, together with the Investment, Production and Trade Bases projects that will become MÜSİAD's National Production Base, as well as for the MÜSİAD Future, MÜSİAD Innova, MÜSİAD Invest, MÜSİAD Academy, 2023 YEREL and MÜSİAD TIA brands.
 
Introduced at MÜSİAD EXPO, the MÜSİAD Investment, Production and Trade Bases are projects implemented so that SMEs may grow with the logic of an incubation centre in living spaces whose conditions have been thought through at every stage, namely investment, production and trade. The production bases, where all needs will be met within the same environment in the event of any disaster and possible renewed pandemic situations and where production and trade will continue healthily without disruption, comprise living spaces in which employers and workers can live comfortably together with their families.
 
IBF BROUGHT THE WORLD'S BUSINESS PEOPLE TOGETHER FOR THE 24TH TIME

MÜSİAD EXPO also hosted many events. The 24th International Business Forum (IBF), attended by industrialists and business people from all four corners of the world, discussed the agenda of the "Virus Economy". Throughout the meetings, the post-pandemic world order was put on the table.
 
At the forum, which hosted country representatives and business people in this difficult time the world is going through, IBF President Erol Yarar said in his speech: "If we do not take a good picture of today, if we cannot make our diagnoses correctly, we cannot carry out the treatment. It will be useful to listen to sectoral analyses from our experts on what today and tomorrow will be like. Life in the world has turned into a great crisis it has not seen in any century. When we look at the statistics in the world, 56 million people die every year. At the moment, deaths due to this disease have increased statistically by %1.5. When you look at how the world's economy contracts, there is only one explanation. When psychology deteriorated, the economy deteriorated too."
 
THE MEETING POINT OF THE WORLD'S HONORARY CONSULS

One of these was the ‘MÜSİAD-World Honorary Consuls Trade and Diplomacy Summit’, at which honorary consuls, one of the leading elements of diplomacy that has become the language of communication of trade, came together in order to contribute to trade and investment networks. At the summit, which brought together the honorary consuls regarded as important players of international trade and which was attended by around 50 honorary consuls, the commercial and economic diplomacy of different countries, primarily Türkiye and the USA, Europe and the Asian countries, was discussed.
MÜSİAD, which has signed a total of 193 agreements with various institutions and organizations to date, held the International Cooperation Agreements Signing Ceremony, signing memoranda of good will and cooperation (MoU) with 20 new counterpart organizations from 4 continents and thereby taking steps towards the development of exports and trade relations between countries.
 
MÜSİAD WORLD GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD (DGİK) WAS HELD

Another event held throughout MÜSİAD EXPO was the MÜSİAD World General Administrative Board. The meeting took place with the participation of MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan, President of the Presidential Investment Office of the Republic of Türkiye Burak Dağlıoğlu, Chairman of the MÜSİAD Global High Board Mehmet Fatih Keçebir, Chairman of the Local High Board Ahmet Şekerli, members of the MÜSİAD board of directors, and branch presidents and representatives from Türkiye and abroad.
 
Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Hasan Büyükdede, one of the visitors on the last day of the fair, said: “We have been present at all of MÜSİAD's fairs from the period when MÜSİAD started its first fair until today. At each MÜSİAD fair we encounter an organization that is more developed than the previous one, with many exhibitors and rich content. MÜSİAD's fairs are very important. I believe that the hybrid fair held to strengthen trade despite the pandemic period has been beneficial’ he said.