Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, who attended the International Digital Transformation, Technology and Innovation Fair held in Thessaloniki, Greece, spoke at the panel titled Drawing the Path to Regional Digital Growth: The Future of Innovative Investments, Regional Convergence and Challenges.
Emphasizing that regional events that enable dialogue and cooperation have critical value, Kacır stated that such events have a positive impact beyond their scope.
Kacır stated that he believes that this fair will be one of them, and that Turkey has recently taken concrete and important steps for close cooperation with its neighbors.
Reminding that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Greece in December 2023, Kacır said, “The leaders of Turkey and Greece signed the Athens Declaration on good neighborly relations. I believe that this process will open important doors in our bilateral relations in the near future.”
Stating that Turkey’s close cooperation with the Southeastern European countries continues, Kacır evaluated that in the near future the world will be divided into two between those who can catch up with the digital revolution and those who cannot.
Stating that Turkey has developed comprehensive policies that will increase its global competitiveness, increase its economic and technological independence and facilitate developments in critical technologies, Kacır stated that they have developed the necessary technology and innovation infrastructure and ecosystems in the last 20 years.
Kacır said, “Today, we have 101 technoparks that host more than 10 thousand technology companies. More than 1600 R&D and design centers and 272 thousand R&D employees form the basis of Turkey’s technology ecosystem. We make Turkey a global hub for innovative technologies.” We aim to position it as a center.” he said.
“There has been progress in gaining digital skills”
Pointing out that Turkey focuses on the goal of creating a society equipped with the necessary skills to develop in the digital economy, Kacır emphasized that it has made significant progress towards citizens gaining digital skills.
“This was the reason why we made developing our human capital the most important element of the National Industrial and Technology Strategy,” said Kacır, adding that in addition to national efforts, they also carry out studies within bilateral and multilateral mechanisms for digitalization.
Pointing out that Turkey actively participates in EU research and innovation programs, Kacır reminded that Turkey ranks fourth among 16 partner countries in terms of participation in the Horizon 2020 program.
Kacır said, “Horizon Europe performance has shown that the strong and positive trend in Turkey’s performance continues. In both research programs, our Turkish researchers have undertaken important projects together with researchers from the countries in the region.” said.
Kacır also emphasized the importance of artificial intelligence in his speech and noted that artificial intelligence is a phenomenon that will change the course of history and shape the future.
Underlining that it should not be forgotten that artificial intelligence also has vulnerabilities such as ethics, security, reliability and privacy, Kacır stated that artificial intelligence raises new questions and challenges by pushing the limits of the existing legal framework.
Kacır emphasized that Turkey prioritizes ethical issues and chooses to reduce the risks associated with artificial intelligence and said, “This approach is compatible with the National Technology Initiative, which aims to increase Turkey’s global competitiveness and ensure its economic and technological independence. In line with this goal, in 2021, the National “We have launched our Artificial Intelligence Strategy. We have determined comprehensive policies and projects that aim to position our country as a producer, not just a consumer of artificial intelligence technologies and applications.”
Reminding that the Artificial Intelligence Institute was established within TÜBİTAK, Kacır stated that Turkey is also a member of the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence (GPAI).
Kacır added that Turkey is completely open to dialogue and cooperation in joint projects and that they have talented corporate structures working in the fields of technology and digitalization.
Minister Kacır also met with Greek Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papageorgiu before the panel.
