The 25^th Quality Congress, organised each year by the Turkish Quality Association (KalDer) was held at the Hilton Convention and Exhibition Centre in Istanbul on 15-16 November 2016.

In the Congress which was also attended by IKV and Kocaeli Chamber of Commerce Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu, 11^th President of the Republic of Turkey Abdullah Gül and participants from a variety of sectors participated.

Many different panels were realised on a wide array of issues at the Congress with both local and international discussants. Moreover, IKV was also represented by IKV Senior Researcher Sema Çapanoğlu and IKV Junior Researcher Deniz Servantie.

The opening remarks of the Quality Congress were realised by Kalder Board of Directors Chairwoman Buket Eminoğlu Pilavcı and TÜSİAD Board of Directors Vice-Chairman Sedat Şükrü Ünlütürk. Kalder Board of Directors Chairwoman Pilavcı indicated that barter trade would bring 1.1 trillion dollars of earning to the global economy. TÜSİAD Board of Directors Vice-Chairman Ünlütürk referred to the growing populist sentiments in the world and the risk that they may bring protectionist policies with respect to the global economy.

Following the opening remarks, 11^th President of the Republic of Turkey Abdullah Gül addressed the participants. Stressing KalDer’s significant contributions to Turkey and to the Turkish people, he shared his belief that KalDer’s 25^th Congress would constitute a success for all. In his speech, President Gül also further indicated that the latest developments in Turkey’s EU accession process have not been particularly healthy. In that context, he underscored that the overarching aim is not necessarily Turkey’s accession to the EU as a full Member State but to be at the same level of the EU Member States in terms of political, economic and social standards. He further referred to the reforms that had been accomplished by Turkish governments in the last decade, indicating that accession negotiations had been successfully launched thanks to these reforms. Moreover, he also added that such reforms had contributed to the increase in foreign direct investments from the EU in Turkey. In a reference to the political process within the framework of the EU accession negotiations, President Gül highlighted that it is a right for the Turkish people to have its fundamental rights and freedom standards raised.

Furthermore, President Gül also underscored the necessity for Turkey to go back to the Positive Agenda. In that context, he expressed his wish for Turkey that the current difficulties would be overcome. He also indicated that he had no doubt that Turkey wold become a country which is achieving new objectives and with ever growing influence and prestige in the world stage. In a reference to the middle income trap, President Gül noted the need to make further efforts in that respect by focusing on institutionalisation and innovation.

Following 11^th President Abdullah Gül’s speech, Pwc Germany Chairman Hendrik Fink realised a presentation with respect to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In his presentation, Chairman Fink indicated that multinational companies have achieved significant efforts with respect to the implementation of the SDGs. In that context, he stressed the critical importance of the Paris Agreement which was signed last year within the framework of COP21 and noted that the global trend is in determining objectives towards the reduction of CO2 emissions.

A variety of panels were realised during the two day Congress in areas such as industry 4.0, the economic perspective, climate change, governance, digital process mining, innovation and entrepreneurship and gender equality. Both local and international discussants shared their thoughts in their respective areas.

Towards the end of the Congress, two special keynote speeches were realised by İzören Academy Board of Directors Ahmet Şerif İzgören and Coventry University Lecturer Prof. Kevin Warwick. İzgören pinpointed to the activities of his academy, stressing that leadership courses are being given to both institutions and children in many different areas of Turkey and that important progress has been achieved in that respect. As for Warwick, he referred to individuals with biological and artificial parts known as “cyborgs”. He noted that many different issues will be solved in the future thanks to smart chips which are inserted within the human body and that it would become trendier in the upcoming years. As for the founding chef of Turkey’s Youth Philharmonic Orchestra Cem Mansur, he shared his thoughts and views with respect to classical music and its influence in today’s world and noted that music is a civilizational need.

Following the closing speech realised by KalDer Board of Directors Chairwoman Buket Eminoğlu Pilavcı, the 100% Quality Life Tournament between Universities prepared by Turkish Tuborg was launched. Finally, 2016 KalDer excellence awards were distributed within the framework of Turkey’s Excellence Awards Ceremony.