Vienna Economic Forum started in Istanbul with the speeches of Deputy Minister of Industry Mehmet Fatih Kaçır and Minister of Finance of Kosovo Hekuran Murati.

At the Vienna Economic Forum, where Dr. Akkan Suver was also a speaker, Deputy Foreign Minister Faruk Kaymakçı took the floor and presented a paper on promoting economic development through local, regional and international cooperation.

Below is the text of Dr.Akkan Suver's speech.

"On behalf of the Marmara Group Foundation which I am the president of, with our civil society identity, I greet our guests, who visited Istanbul for the meeting of the Vienna Economic Forum.

I find this meeting extremely important.

Because in these difficult days we are living in, it is important and valuable that an Austrian civil think tank organizes a meeting in Istanbul.

First of all, I congratulate my friends Dr.Peter Umundum and Amb.Elena Kirstcheva separately.

Dear Guests,

Taking this meeting as an opportunity, I would like to commemorate my friend Dr Erhard Busek, a former Austrian Chancellor who passed away a month ago and was the founding chairman of the Vienna Economic Forum.

The Vienna Economic Forum is a free chair.

Dr. Erhard Busek, who created this free chair, was a statesman with thought and democratic ideals.

Before 1992, Dr. Erhard Busek, who had the courage to go to Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia to explain democracy, free elections and transparency there, performed outstanding duties to bring the Balkan geography together under the roof of the European Union after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Vienna Economic Forum was a civic movement formed by Dr.Erhard Busek and Amb.Elena Kirstcheva for Turkey's entry into the European Union.

This organization, which accepted me to the Vienna Economic Forum in 2006 as a strategic partner on behalf of the Marmara Group Foundation, provides services for the welfare of the Balkan geography.

At the beginning of my speech, I said that I found this meeting important.

Yes, it is important that this meeting is held in Istanbul during the difficult times Europe is going through due to Covid-19 and the Ukraine-Russia war.

It is a good choice to hold this meeting in Istanbul in terms of showing the values that Turkey has, reflecting our bright face, and in the name of prosperity and peace. So I congratulate the Vienna Economic Forum."

Dr. Suver's speech was also published in Austrian Media :