Turkish, Greek ministers meet at the fair in Thessaloniki
Turkish Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır met with Greek Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papageorgiu at the International Digital Transformation, Technology and Innovation Fair held in Thessaloniki.
Mr Kacır participated in the International Digital Transformation, Technology and Innovation Fair in Thessaloniki, where he delivered a speech at the panel titled "Charting the Path to Regional Digital Growth: Future of Innovative Investments, Regional Convergence and Challenges. Minister Kacır also met with Dimitris Papageorgiu, Minister of Digital Governance of Greece before the panel.
Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Industry and Technology of Türkiye, stated that regional events that enable dialogue and cooperation are of critical value.
Emphasising that regional events that enable dialogue and cooperation are of critical value, Kacır said that such events have a positive impact beyond their scope.
Kacır said that he believed that this fair would be one of them, noting that Turkey has recently taken concrete and important steps for close cooperation with its neighbours.
Reminding that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Greece in December 2023, Kacır said: "The leaders of Türkiye and Greece signed the Athens Declaration on good neighbourly relations. I believe that this process will open important doors in our bilateral relations in the near future."
Stating that Türkiye's close co-operation with Southeastern European countries continues, Kacır assessed 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 Türkiye has developed inclusive policies that will increase its global competitiveness, enhance its economic and technological independence and facilitate developments in critical technologies, Kacır said that they have developed the necessary technology and innovation infrastructure and ecosystems in the last 20 years.
Kacır said, "Today, we have 101 technoparks hosting more than 10 thousand technology companies. Over 1600 R&D and design centres and 272 thousand R&D employees form the basis of Türkiye's technology ecosystem. We aim to position Turkey as a global centre for innovative technologies."
"Progress made in acquiring digital skills"
Pointing out that Türkiye focuses on creating a society equipped with the necessary skills to thrive in the digital economy, Kacır emphasised that Turkey has made significant progress in enabling citizens to acquire digital skills.
"This was the reason why we made developing our human capital the most important element of the "National Industry and Technology Strategy"," said Kacır, adding that in addition to national efforts, they are also working within bilateral and multilateral mechanisms for digitalisation.
Pointing out that Türkiye is actively participating in EU research and innovation programmes, Kacır reminded that Turkey ranks fourth among 16 partner countries in terms of participation in the Horizon 2020 programme.
"Horizon Europe performance has shown that the strong and positive trend in Türkiye's performance continues. In both research programmes, Turkish researchers carried out important projects together with researchers from countries in the region."
Emphasising the importance of artificial intelligence in his speech, Kacır 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 harbours vulnerabilities such as ethics, security, reliability and confidentiality, Kacır stated that artificial intelligence poses new questions and challenges by pushing the boundaries of the existing legal framework.
Kacır emphasised that Türkiye prioritises ethical considerations and chooses to mitigate the risks associated with artificial intelligence, saying: "This approach is in line with the National Technology Initiative, which aims to increase Türkiye's global competitiveness and ensure its economic and technological independence. In line with this goal, we launched our National Artificial Intelligence Strategy in 2021. We have identified 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 an Artificial Intelligence Institute was established within TÜBİTAK, Kacır stated that Türkiye is also a member of the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence (GPAI).
Kacır added that Turkey is fully open to dialogue and cooperation in joint projects and has talented institutional structures working in the fields of technology and digitalisation.
