Last Thursday the VII edition of the Official Spanish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry Awards. Through these awards, the Chamber recognizes both Spanish and Turkish companies or individuals who, through their activity and dedication, have distinguished themselves in promoting bilateral relations between the two countries.
In category a “professional merit” the Chamber recognized the role of Onur Genç, CEO of BBVA, for being the first CEO of Turkish origin in a global bank of Spanish origin. “It is an honor for me to have been awarded by the Spanish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce. Receiving this award that unites two countries so close is a satisfaction for me”, said Onur Genç during the award ceremony.
Onur Genç highlighted the importance of commercial relations between Spain and Turkey, with a total volume of trade that is expected to reach 18,000 million euros at the end of 2022. In this sense, Genç highlighted that Turkey can act as a gateway to Asia for Spanish companies and, at the same time, Spain can act as a gateway to Latin America for Turkish companies. “Here BBVA wants and can play a key role given our global nature”.
In the category of “Spanish Company” the award went to the Barceló Group for the promotion of the tourism sector. The award of the Spanish multinational dedicated to the tourism sector was collected by its president Simón Barceló, who underlined that “Turkey is a great tourist destination and one of the favorites of the Spaniards due to its geography, history, culture, gastronomy… From Barceló we will do everything possible to promote Spanish tourism in Turkey to reaffirm that it is one of the great international destinations”.
And in the category of “Turkish company” The award was received by Can Atalay, CEO of Arkas Logistics for promoting the logistics trade between the two countries. Arkas is one of the leading companies in sea, air and land transport, which has seen a significant increase in the volume of exports from Turkey in recent years.
The ceremony was attended by both representatives of companies and member bodies of the Spanish-Turkish Chamber of Commerce Burak AkcaparAmbassador of Turkey to Spain, which highlighted the excellent year in strengthening bilateral relations.
Also Antonio Garamendipresident of CEOEhe stressed that both countries have many things in common and that Spain is a bridge for Turkey to other markets such as Latin America or Europe and for Spanish companies Turkey is the gateway to Asia.
