DEIK - Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey / Dış Ekonomik İlişkiler Kurulu

Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) is responsible for leading foreign economic relations of Turkish private sector in a myriad of sectors particularly foreign trade, international investment and services, international construction activities and logistics, exploring inward and outward investment opportunities as well as increasing the export volume of Turkish business and coordinating similar business development activities.

DEIK was established with this objective in 1986 and adopted a new structure with the Law No. 6552 enacted on 11 September 2014, being further empowered and assuming full responsibility of “managing the foreign economic relations of the Turkish private sector." As of December 2015, DEIK has 103 founding institutions and 130 business councils, and approximately 1000 member companies which form these councils, as well as 2000 representatives from the member companies.

Vision, Approach and Objectives

DEIK’s vision implies that Turkey is a country, which can shape economic and political developments regionally or globally in strong cooperation with its public and private sectors and civil society; which has sustained macroeconomic stability; which is globally competitive with leading entrepreneurs and brands; which is capable of generating high technology and innovations; which has a significant share in world trade; which is an important global investment, financial and R&D center, exhibiting high standards in all fields.

DEIK has a holistic approach to foreign economic relations and perform activities in a variety of fields such as foreign trade, inward foreign direct investment and outward foreign direct investment, international construction, energy, banking, finance and logistics.

In order to achieve these objectives, DEIK performs following activities: Providing consultation for public institutions and organizations when required; helping companies penetrate deeper into their current markets or access new markets; organizing international events; developing and executing strategies for foreign economic relations; generating critical information for the business community; working towards attracting more foreign direct investment to Turkey; helping companies expand their national, regional and global networks; organizing training programs with a view of building corporate capacities for companies willing to become global players; supporting public diplomacy and acting as a catalyst in developing bilateral and multilateral social relationships, chiefly among these are cultural and artistic activities; representing Turkish business community in front of international and multinational organizations; and lobbying for Turkey in international platforms.