Turkish contribution to world peace

pls click for more info

Turkish contribution to world peace HAKAN TAŞÇI h.tasci@todayszaman.com

Don’t worry, I will not write about the Turkish winner of a beauty pageant or critique the movie “Miss Congeniality.” Nor will I discuss recent unrest in the Middle East and the quest for democracy in the region. Rather, I would like to focus this column on an important initiative and social responsibility project to which the United Nations, Turkish Foreign Ministry and civil society have committed.

The Fourth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC), which will be held May 9-13 in İstanbul, strives to bring together 5,000 government officials, business leaders and civil society representatives, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, President Abdullah Gül and the heads of state from several nations. For the first time, this conference will also have a private sector track. Hundreds of businesspeople from LDCs and non LDCs will come together in the trade fair and business forum jointly organized by United Nations Global Compact, the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) and the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB). The group of 48 LDCs from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean have a total population of 850 million people. Among them 16 are landlocked and 12 are small island countries. These are countries where the poorest of the world live. More than half of the populations in these countries live on less than $1.25 a day. Turkey is going to host this UN conference, which is organized once a decade, leading discussions to address poverty reduction, capacity development and sustainable growth for LDCs for the next 10 years. Hosting this conference is another step toward reaching out to neglected regions of the world in line with the principles of the new direction in Turkish foreign policy activism. This approach has many dimensions. I would like to touch upon two of those dimensions and show how valuable Turkish activism can be for the sustainable development of troubled nations. Social and cultural cohesion in Turkey and the region can bring dynamism and optimism to people. Prosperity would then follow. This can happen through joint investments in education, health and development. Turkish schools established by education volunteers and financed by philanthropist businesspeople over the years are an example of the unique investment in the future of those countries. It is also a great way of developing skills and experience and building friendships for Turkey. These international projects, achieved by the generous Anatolian civil society, are just the starting point for many other successful projects in these countries. Turkish embassies have recently been opened in Africa, especially in regions where many least developed countries are located. This is a major investment by the Turkish government. Appointing trade-oriented ambassadors to the region is a sign that Turkey is paving the way to support the development of those countries. Trade and investment bridging programs as well as other business development efforts are another avenue we should focus more on to improve prosperity. Turkish businesses can add important value to these countries together with other emerging economies that are working extensively there such as China, Brazil and India. Every single project that Turkish companies bid for, and their willingness to work with locals and the employment generation mechanisms they develop, can be a good case study for many others. One such company in Bangladesh, one of those LDCs, employs more than 4,000 people. More than 300 business projects developed by Turkish entrepreneurs in those countries have the potential to substantially contribute to improving prosperity in those parts of the world. Turkish trade with LDCs has increased fourfold in the last decade, and this is a unique reflection of this interest and partnership. This conference will be a venue for sharing international expertise and showcase the commitment to joint efforts to succeed in the field of social and economic development of neglected nations. Gathering a good number of people and encouraging them to focus on the development of LDCs for one week is great, but the key to making a similar conference unnecessary 10 years from now needs fieldwork and continuous effort. Can we handle this for world peace? We shall see in 2021.