Every year the Board of the Eyprom Foundation selects a country where to carry out a visit (or “mission”) the following spring. Participants do not necessarily have to be linked to the Foundation and are chosen following criteria such as nationality, gender balance, academic and professional achievements, leadership skills. Once a country has been identified, these missions are usually organised in cooperation with local partners, which put together “twin” groups composed of local young professionals. Throughout the mission, the Eyprom Foundation and the local partner work on a report to be finalised during the visit, taking into account the findings emerged during the meetings and the discussions held.

The first edition of EYPROM was held on April 24th - May 3rd 2009 in Turkey, the most relevant candidate to EU membership. You can download our 2009 report here.

Straddling between Europe, the Caucasus and the Middle East, Turkey enjoys a unique strategic position. A member of Western organisations such as NATO, the OECD and the Council of Europe, it is also a member of OIC - the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. Its economy has grown steadily over the past years and the trade relations with the EU are very strong. Its population is estimated at more than 70 million inhabitants, many of which are youth. Furthermore, large Turkish communities live nowadays in several EU countries. Turkey is currently striving to cope with issues such as the national identity, the relations with its neighbours and the development of Anatolia’s most remote regions.

For all these reasons and more, Turkey is - and will remain for long - at the top of European interests.

While in Turkey, EYPROM participants held meetings with high-level individuals from the private and public sectors, as well as from politics and academia. Furthermore, the Eyprom Foundation, TÜGİAD and the Istanbul Technical University organised a conference on investment opportunities in renewable energy across the Eastern Mediterranean region. A number of high-level speakers intervened at the conference, including HE Selahattin Çimen, Undersecretary for Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey.

PROGRAMME EYPROM 2009

Friday, 24th April

Arrival

Saturday, 25th April (Istanbul)

Visit to Istanbul

Sunday, 26th April (Istanbul)

Bosphorus cruise

Monday, 27th April (Istanbul)

Meeting with DEIK - Foreign Economic Relations Board
Meeting with KAGIDER - Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey
Istanbul Opera House - Orphée et Eurydice (C.W. Gluck)

Tuesday, 28th April (Istanbul)

Meeting with Italian Foreign Trade Commission’s Istanbul Office
Meeting with TÜSİAD - Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association
Meeting with TÜGİAD’s Board
Meeting with ISPAT - Invest in Turkey Agency
Cocktail reception at Italian General Consulate

Wednesday, 29th April (Istanbul)

High-level conference on investment opportunities in renewable power generation in the Eastern Mediterranean (see programme)

Thursday, 30th April (Ankara)

Meeting with Italian Embassy to Turkey
Meeting with Czech Embassy to Turkey
Meeting with HE Mehmet Zafer Çağlayan, Minister of Trade and Industry of the Turkish Republic and Member of the Turkish Parliament
Cocktail and dinner reception with members of TÜGİAD’s Ankara branch

Friday, 1st May (Ankara)

Meeting with Delegation of the European Commission to Turkey
Visit to Atatürk Mausoleum

Saturday, 2nd May (Istanbul)

Visit to Istanbul
Sunday, 3rd May

Departure