Cooperation expedition by the ICE to the Vikings
Continuing to develop global cooperation, İzmir Commodity Exchange (ICE) organized a business trip to the Viking country of Denmark. Denmark, which has 20 billion euros of technology-intensive exports in agriculture and animal husbandry despite its 5.5 million population, is considered among the most innovative countries in this field in the world.
The ICE delegation led by Mrs. Işınsu Kestelli, chairperson of the Board of Directors, and comprising the Assembly and Board members paid a business and study visit to the Danish Agriculture and Food Council that is the umbrella organization of the country in agriculture and animal husbandry. Ms. Emine Şendil, who is the chief commercial counsellor in the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Denmark, was also present during the visit.
In the meeting that was hosted by the market developer Ms. Susanne Teilman on behalf of the Danish Agriculture and Food Council, opinions were exchanged as to how joint projects from which both institutions would benefit the most could be developed and run.
Having expressed that she was delighted to be in such a well-established institution as the Danish Agriculture and Food Council, working for the future of agriculture and formed with exemplary cooperation. Mrs. Kestelli said, "With its production value of 62 billion dollars, Türkiye is the largest agricultural economy of Europe. However, we are going through a period in which production and trade are redefined in the world. Rules of the game are changing rapidly. As Türkiye, we are determined to keep up with this wave of change."
Indicating that they were aware of the opportunities and threats they faced, but were yet not at the desired level in terms of the global knowledge and technology transfer needed in that sector, Mrs. Kestelli added, "For this reason, we are well aware of the importance of global cooperation to be established between powerful institutions. To this end, we strive to establish a series of contacts to work closely with the major European R&D centres in agriculture and animal husbandry. In May, we visited Rothamsted, one of the world's long-established agricultural research centres in London. We are very open to global cooperation opportunities that will shorten the duration of distance we are to cover in agriculture and animal husbandry."
Underlining that they therefore wanted to get closely acquainted with the Danish Agriculture and Food Council that had brought agriculture and animal husbandry to 20 billion Euro levels in Denmark and established such a futuristic organization as SEGES, Mrs. Kestelli said "I hope this visit will be the beginning of a long-term and fruitful collaboration".
Having spoken on behalf of the Danish Agriculture and Food Council, the market developer Ms. Susanne Teilman said, "The main task of our Council, established by farmers 200 years ago, is to protect the interests of all the institutions and organizations we represent and to provide all the services they need completely. Today we represent around 30,000 farmers and more than 400 companies operating in the food and agriculture sector. We are also responsible for conducting basic research and development programs on topics such as food safety, animal health and welfare, environment and energy. We have a research and innovation centre called SEGES. We closely follow the new trends here by carrying out agricultural field studies." Referring to the importance of agriculture for the Danish economy, Ms. Teilman said, "Denmark, like Türkiye, receives a significant portion of its economy from agriculture. The development of organic agriculture through good agricultural practices is also one of the areas we prioritize as a country. We are open to all kinds of cooperation in order to improve the trade of agricultural products between the two countries."
After the opening speeches, Dr. Erçin Güdücü, secretary general of the ICE, made an informative presentation about the projects run and works carried out by the ICE. In the presentation, he also gave information about the operation of the E-Commodity Bazaar electronic trading platform.
At the end of the meeting, the chairperson Mrs. Işınsu Kestelli presented gifts of appreciation to the market developer Ms. Susanne Teilman and the chief commercial counsellor Ms. Emine Şendil in memory of the day. After that, the ICE and Danish delegations stood together to take a photo in memory of the day.
12.07.2017
