President of the Investment Office Ahmet Burak Dağlıoğlu mentioned that 52 projects have been decided to be launched in Turkey, and added, “The total investment value of these projects is nearly $4 billion, and they include an employment of around 10 thousand 500 people.” DEMANDS FROM 17 COUNTRIES Dağlıoğlu noted that the projects in question had been designed according to the demands of 17 different countries, especially the USA, Germany, Turkey, Spain, the Netherlands and India. Investment Office’s President then added, “Depending on their investment values, projects have been built on 18 different sectors such as chemical products, iron and steel, and other metals, energy, motor vehicles, and transport vehicles and mining/quarrying.” Thirty-six of these projects are based on greenfield investments, while the remaining 16 are expansion investments.” 23 DIVERSE INVESTMENT AREAS Dağlıoğlu underlined that 70 out of the 82 projects regarded as potential investments, passed onto the research and feasibility stage as of June and continued: “The total investment value of the potential projects is approximately $4.76 billion. The total amount of investment envisaged by these projects is around 15 thousand 800. The projects include 23 diverse sectors comprising of information and communication technologies, food products, machinery and equipment, chemical products, and spare parts for motor vehicles in particular. In concern with the investment value of the projects, 27 countries take the lead while Germany, South Korea, USA, Turkey, Japan, Canada, and UAE rose to prominence.” ATTRACTIVE SECTORS Dağlıoğlu lined up the priority sectors from the perspective of foreign direct investments: e-mobility, life sciences (pharmaceuticals, medical devices, hospital services), health, information and communication technologies (consumer electronics, ICT, software), automotive, energy, chemicals and petrochemicals, machinery, defense and aerospace, logistics, infrastructure, agriculture,food, and drink. ECONOMIC FOCUS SHIFTING TOWARDS ASIA Pointing to the need to identify the investors’ geographical profiles, Dağlıoğlu added, “The European, American or Asian investors in Turkey or the investors from the Gulf region in our country have different expectations and ways of thinking.” Dağlıoğlu underlined that they attached great importance to Asia in terms of investments and continued,“Since 2011, the share of the Asian countries within the scope of the foreign direct investments launched in Turkey went over 22 percent. The world’s economic focus has been shifting towards Asia, and Turkey cannot ignore this tendency and act independently. Then again, this should not be interpreted as “turning our back to the USA.” HIGH ADVANTAGES IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN Commenting on the supply chain’s views would be sliding to Turkey after the pandemic, Dağlıoğlu said: “Our immediate priority is enabling our companies to perform their activities with minimum damage. Throughout the pandemic, we received information requests and files in mobility, digitalization, and logistics from the companies located out of Turkey. New projects were included in our portfolio. There are also manufacturers from Asia. We followed all the global reports and views during this process, and they indeed demonstrate that this is an opportunity for Turkey. Our business world should be aware of this fact as well. All discussions are based on global supply chains. Emphasizing that Turkey already had an economy integrated into the global supply chains, Dağlıoğlu expressed that increasing the share in these platforms would be possible. Dağlıoğlu pointed to the acceleration in the countries’ protectionist tendencies and concluded: “Negotiations on having secure and flexible economic activities or procurements with perhaps more stocks instead of merely cost-oriented ones are being held with the purchasing managers of many countries. Still, we observe that the supply chain concept would remain unchanged. Instead of remaining local or narrow borders, regionalism is being discussed. Turkey achieves an advantage at this point, and I believe our country would continue to attract foreign direct investments.” 1.236 ACTIVE R&D CENTERS Burak Dağlıoğlu expressed that as of February 2020, Turkey embraced a total of 1.236 R&D centers, including 187 international ones, and added, “We wish the number of these centers that employ a total of 60 thousand 173 people would rise.” Dağlıoğlu, pointed that the Investment Office had launched 224 investment projects with the worth $23 billion in the country so far and underlined that an employment of 48 thousand people was projected within the scope of these investments. OUR GREATEST STRENGTH IS OUR COMPETENT ENGINEERS Dağlıoğlu stressed that he projected an increase in the investments in R&D and technology in the future and added, “Turkey’s competent engineers is the country’s strong suit. The investment value of AVL, the automotive engineering company in our portfolio nearly seven years ago, remained around €100 thousand. Yet, today the company turned into a company that exports technology across the world. We aspire to embrace more of these companies, have an investment agenda where this competent labor forceof Turkey capable of elevating the level of technology could be perceived by foreign investors and where this strength is acknowledged as a value.”

04 Eylül 2020 Cuma

SÜMEYRA YARIŞ TOPAL Hagia Sophia is one of the most glorious treasures creating the Istanbul brand. Finally, after 86 years, the shrine once again embraced its identity as a mosque. Hagia Sophia was qualified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. In addition to UNESCO’s Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the 1500-year-old historical sanctuary is being preserved by the national legislation. The Turks’ protective approach lay in the basis of Hagia Sophia’s existence of nearly one thousand and five hundred years. According to the historians of the time, the sanctuary had been a ‘wreckage’ in the years of conquest. Istanbul had been witnessing the restoration and repair works conducted on the structure since 1453. DARK TIMES Hagia Sophia survived many disasters such as fires and earthquakes and frequently hosted repair and restoration works. Each disaster left a mark on this sacred venue. However, the most destructive one had occurred during the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and ruined and left sanctuary as a wreckage to the Ottoman Empire’s Istanbul. In one of his articles written in 1901, Karl Krumbacher, a German Scholer who developed the modern study of Byzantine culture, notes that many pieces from the shrine had been taken abroad. According to Krumbacher, 24 bibles, 36 censers, 300 candlesticks, 6 thousand candelabras, 300 ceremonial dresses, five crosses, two golden, three crystal and 250 silver candlesticks, and 4 torches had been removed. HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS The ancient city witnessed four devastating fires until the conquest of Istanbul. The economic crises of those times had also blown a massive impact on the beauty of the city. Arriving in the city in 1403, the Spanish Ambassador Ruy González de Clavijo describes its state as, “A majority of the grand palaces, churches, and monasteries have been ruined…The exterior doors of Hagia Sophia are worn out.” The Florentine priest and cartographer Cristoforo Buondelmonti arrived in Istanbul in 1422. He summarized the city’s latest state: “Merely the dome of the Hagia Sophia survived, all rest has been destroyed and ruined. The church was in a dilapidated state with several of its doors fallen from their hinge.” A MILESTONE FOR HAGIA SOPHIA The conquest of Istanbul had been a milestone for the Hagia Sophia after the terrible invasion it had been through. Immediately upon the conquest, Mehmed the Conquerer ordered a renovation of the building. Mehmed the Conquerer had the mosaics depicting saints and angels plastered over carefully. HISTORIC RESTORATION Hagia Sophia survived numerous earthquakes and fires, and Turks’ administration had always prioritized the restoration and repair of the shrine. The sanctuary remained closed for two years after 1847; during the period, it experienced the most significant renovation throughout its history. The covered mosaics were also opened and restored. Two hundred structural stabilization operations were conducted, and 800 workers were assigned as part of the restoration process. Upon the proclamation of the Republic, Hagia Sophia was transformed into a museum and preserved its original state with the help of the numerous restoration operations it went through. EXHIBITED IN THE MUSEUM After its launch as a museum, numerous historical artifacts were brought to Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque. Restored to their original state as a mosque, these artifacts in the mosque will now be exhibited at the historical building of the 2nd District Office of the Istanbul Land Registry and Cadastre in Sultanahmet. The history of this building to be used as the Hagia Sophia Museum dates back to 1881. PRAYER WITH THE MOSAICS Despite the prayers performed in Hagia Sophia, the mosaics were not covered. It is possible to prove to the Western world that the Hagia Sophia preserved its original state for centuries, even after it was converted into a mosque by the drawings of Cornelius Loos from Sweden who visited Istanbul. BARTHOLOMEW’S STATEMENT In the 1930s, Thomas Whittemore led a team from Byzantine Institute of America to Istanbul for running research on the mosaics of Hagia Sophia. Whittemore wrote, “There is no evidence on the destruction of these mosaics by human beings. On the contrary, hundreds of crosses across the church that remained undestroyed are the indicators of Turk’s preservation of the building.” Upon discovering the ‘Seraphim Angels’ on the walls of Hagia Sophia after long centuries in 2010, the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Bartholomew, noted, “This discovery is the proof of this shrine’s protection of many other treasures.” AKHTAMAR CHURCH OPENS TO PRAYER AFTER 95 YEARS Turkey’s policy on preserving the diversification in its lands had always stood out. In recent years, over one thousand and fifteen estates were returned to the non-Muslim groups. The first Assyrian School started education in 2014. Four hundred thirty-five churches and synagogues became operational again. The Sumela Monastery was opened after 90 years, and the Akhtamar Church in Van that came back to life after 95 years and Europe’s greatest synagogue, The Grand Synagogue of Edirne, was restored reopened after 46 years are among them.

04 Eylül 2020 Cuma

Turkey has been providing services to numerous foreign patients as part of the health tourism. As a frequent destination of many local and international patients, Istanbul is mentioned most often with the investments in health in the city, especially with the city hospitals. Seven more large hospitals have been launched within six months in the city where the pandemic has been felt the most. These medical facilities are expected to contribute severely to the fight against the pandemic and the normalization process. After the pandemic, they will continue to serve health tourism, and during the cases of probable epidemics and natural disasters. KARTAL DR. LÜTFİ KIRDAR CITY HOSPITAL Yearly 3.5 million patients to be treated This hospital serves the patients with 153 intensive care unit beds, a 1.105 bed capacity in total, and with its 3 thousand 775 staff. 858 doctors and 1.077 nurses serve in the hospital containing 145 intensive care unit beds, an outpatient capacity for 250 patients, 45 operating rooms, and 110 beds are allocated for emergency medical hold. Dr. Lütfi Kırdar City Hospital is a well-equipped hospital with a superior infrastructure. Yearly, 3.5 million patients will be receiving ambulatory care, while 150 thousand in-patient treatments will be delivered in the hospital. Last but not least, with the 855 seismic isolators located in the basement of the building, this hospital is one of Istanbul’s most earthquake-resistant medical facilities. PROF. ASAF ATASEVEN HOSPITAL OF MARMARA UNIVERSITY Earthquake-resistant with 827 seismic isolators Prof. Asaf Ataseven Hospital of Marmara University will be fully operational with 155 clinics, 535 beds (60 ICU beds and 304 beds in rooms), and 28 operating rooms. The hospital was rendered earthquake-resistant with the installation of 827 seismic isolators. HADIMKÖY DR. İSMAİL NİYAZİ KURTULMUŞ HOSPITAL Restored in merely 45 days Commissioned by Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1881 and served as a military hospital until 1985, the historical Hadımköy Military Hospital restored its original condition in only 45 days and launched again. The hospital is named after Dr. İsmail Niyazi Kurtulmuş, who had devoted his whole life to kindness and healing patients. Built over 23 acres, Hadımköy Dr. İsmail Niyazi Kurtulmuş Hospital has an indoor space of 4 thousand and 500 square meters. This hospital, with 59 ICU beds and 101 bed capacity in total, shall serve as a smart building. ISTANBUL MEDENİYET UNIVERSITY GÖZTEPE TRAINING AND RESEARCH HOSPITAL A helicopter pad for patient transport Istanbul Medeniyet University Göztepe Training and Research Hospital will be the medical base of the Anatolian part of the city.Planned over an indoor area of 245 thousand and 667 square meters, the hospital will perform with 80 ICU beds and 604 beds in total, 175 clinics, 27 operation rooms, and 52 emergency service beds in the first stage. Upon the completion of the second stage, it will reach a 1.116-bed capacity, 239 clinic rooms, 28 operating theaters, and 38 delivery rooms. Offering services in cardiovascular surgery, wound care and treatment and serving as a stroke clinic, this hospital will be capable of meeting the circulation of 6-7 thousand patients. A helicopter pad will also be included in the campus to transfer patients from other cities and countries. ISTANBUL BAŞAKŞEHİR CITY HOSPITAL Daily 35 thousand patient admission The overall bed capacity of the Başakşehir City Hospital is 2 thousand 682. 725 examination rooms, 3 hybrid surgery rooms, and 90 operating rooms in total, 28 delivery rooms, and 16 burn units. The hospital is capable of serving 35 thousand patients per day.With its 2 thousand and 800 seismic insulators, it is the “World’s Largest Seismically Isolated Building.” In this way, hospital services, including the surgeries, will not be interrupted during the earthquakes. PROF. DR. FERİHA ÖZ EMERGENCY HOSPITAL All rooms transformable to ICU units The hospital was named after Feriha Öz, a world-renowned former professor of pathology, who died from Covid-19 pandemic. It is a one-story earthquake-resistant hospital that will be available for performing during epidemics, earthquakes, and natural disasters. The hospital building was founded over an area of 75 thousand square meters, and a 1.008-bed hospital was designed to enable the transformation of all its rooms into ICU units. With a strategic location due to its proximity to Sabiha Gökçen Airport, the help of the landing strips near the patients from other cities and countries will be able to receive treatment immediately upon their arrival. PROF. DR. MURAT DİLMENER EMERGENCY HOSPITAL Airport compound transformed into an emergency hospital Built on the premises of Atatürk Airport, Prof. Dr. Murat Dilmener Emergency Hospital is an impressive modern structure with a horizontal architecture. Equipped with state-of-the-art medical technologies, the hospital covers an area of 125 thousand square meters. The one-story building with an indoor space of 75 thousand square meters is surrounded by a landscape and parking lot covering 50 thousand square meters. The hospital features 1.008 beds in total, 16 operating theaters, 576 ensuite bedrooms with 36 rooms installed with dialysis and intensive care equipment. There are 432 intensive care beds including 36 installed with dialysis and negative-pressure, 36 emergency medical hold beds, eight triage rooms, two CRP rooms, 2 X-ray rooms, 28 mobile x-rays, 4 tomography rooms, 3 BT, 4 MR rooms, 3 ECMO and laboratories included in the hospital. The patients’ transfer by helicopters and ambulance aircraft is available, thanks to the hospital’s helicopter pad. A guest house with 342-bed capacity and a lodgement area was planned for the hospital as well.

04 Eylül 2020 Cuma

In addition to the hospitals opened in recent months, with its export of masks, hospital beds, respiratory equipment, testing kits, and other medical devices, Istanbul is turning into the medical base of the Afro-Eurasian zone. On account of such investments, Turkey aims to become one of the top three global healthcare tourism countries. MÜGE BİBER Turkey made its mark in the health tourism with the recent investments and hosted 1.5 million tourists seeking a cure. The amount spent by these tourists reached $6 billion. PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE According to the Ministry of Health records, per capita expenditure of the tourists preferring Turkey for medical services reaches $6-9 thousand. In contrast, the average revenues received from the tourists choosing Turkey for vacation and entertainment remain at the level of $650-1000. The figure expected by the Ministry of Health for the year 2023 is a yearly health tourism revenue of $10 billion. FROM ALL CORNERS OF THE WORLD Health tourism is on the top of the list of main driving forces capable of boosting tourism among the sectors affected most by the coronavirus pandemic. The first mobilization during the pandemic was launched upon the circular dated May 20, issued by the Ministry of Health, enabling the acceptance of patients from 31 countries. Following this development, the provision envisaging the limit of 31 countries was removed. Thus, tourists seeking a cure from all the corners of the world started to be welcomed to Turkey. HOW WILL THE TOURISTS ARRIVE TO THE COUNTRY? Tourists passing the approval procedures shall be able to arrive in our country, by land, air or sea. Patients and their companions will be tested for Covid-19 with PCR swab tests for a fee at the airports, and border gates or samples will be taken for PCR tests. The border gates accepting the tourists arriving for medical services are as follows: By air: Istanbul, Istanbul Atatürk, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, Ankara Esenboğa, Antalya, Izmir Adnan Menderes, Adana airports By land: Kapıkule, Sarp, and Habur border gates. By sea: Mersin Taşucu Port, Karasu Port. OBLIGATION TO REGISTER TO THE SYSTEM Specific requirements have to be fulfilled for the acceptance of the tourists as patients during the pandemic. Initially, the patients and their companions selecting our country within the scope of international health tourism are registered into the patient health monitoring system of the International Health Services Inc. (USHAŞ). In line with the rules on the system’s utilization, these patients primarily create a ‘user account’ on the website of USHAŞ. These accounts will be created under the form of four different categories: The patient, companion, hospital, and intermediary institutions. MAXIMUM TWO COMPANIONS ARE ALLOWED The user accounts of the intermediary institutions and hospitals are activated upon the approval of USHAŞ after the execution of required controls. A maximum of two companions can be registered with the patient. The system prevents the overlapping registries when an account has been created (with a passport or ID number). INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATION The hospitals that shall welcome the patients and their companies are obliged to have the International Health Tourism Authorization Certificate issued by the Ministry of Health. The license and official authorization will include the branches regarding the illnesses to be diagnosed and treated as part of the international health tourism. These hospitals are obliged to allocate an independent floor or a corridor or an independent service to the foreign patients in the country for health tourism to prevent contact with other patients or companions. 500 THOUSAND HAIR TRANSPLANTATION PROCEDURES According to the sector representatives, the cost of the hair transplantation operations in Turkey varies from €800 to €1000. As for the reconstructive surgery, the prices start from €2 thousand and 500. Every year, 500 thousand hair transplantation procedures and 100 thousand plastic operations are being executed in Turkey. The majority of tourists arrive in Turkey through travel agencies, and their hotel and city tours are included in their payments. Tourists traveling to Turkey for plastic surgery remain in the country 5-7 days on average. On the other hand, foreign tourists choosing Turkey for hair transplantation procedures stay in the country for at least 2-3 days. NEW TARGET: TOP 3 In 2019, Turkey ranked 4th in the global list on health tourism, and India at the top of the list was Turkey’s then most significant competitor. Malaysia ranked 2nd, and Thailand ranked 3rd in health tourism, and Mexico, as the 5th country in the list, followed Turkey. Turkey is planned to be rendered one of the top three countries in the world in this area with the help of its modern pandemic hospitals built on the Anatolian and European coasts of Istanbul. These new hospitals’ airports are considered as prominent advantages. RECOVERY WITH A 4 HOURS’ FLIGHT Turkey enjoys a significant geographical position that attracts nearly 1 billion people and 57 countries within the distance of a 4-hours’ flight. Moreover, on account of the Turkish Airlines that serves the most destinations (120 countries, 299 cities, and 302 airports) and its accessibility, Turkey is considered as the ideal location for health tourism. In addition to its healthcare facilities, physicians and top-level and qualified human resources, country’s advantages such as its geographical position, seasonal benefits, high-quality medical services, technological and medical equipment in world standards, affordable prices (especially compared to the prices in Europe), its thermal springs that remain at the top in the global lists, render Turkey one of the most preferred countries in health tourism. In particular, Istanbul is expected to be more competitive thanks to its new pandemic hospitals containing airports. COUNTRIES RECEIVING MEDICAL SERVICES FROM TURKEY (First half of 2019) Syria Iraq Azerbaijan Georgia Uzbekistan Turkmenistan Afghanistan Russia Germany Libya MOSTLY PREFERRED BRANCHES Reconstructive surgery/hair transplantation Heart surgery Orthopedics Oncology IVF treatment

03 Eylül 2020 Perşembe

EMRE KÖSEOĞLU During his visit to the SIAL Paris Fair in October last year, President of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Şekib Avdagiç, visited President of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Didier Kling. The two agreed to cooperate in carrying out tasks of the business world in EU membership negotiations. In its 2019 activity calendar, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce has taken a step to implement a structure that will serve under the name ‘Digital Facilitator and Router Digital Platform,’ for the digital transformation of its member enterprises. Implementing a similar project in its own region, the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry has already yielded successful results and was entitled to receive a support grant from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). IT WILL LAST FOR 15 MONTHS Within the scope of the project, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry will partner. After a necessary analysis, the ‘Les Digiteurs’ (Digitalized) platform and its service network running in the background will be re-adapted to the needs of Istanbul. The project that began on April 1 will last for 15 months. FAST INTERACTION In the 12th month of the project, the digital transformation of member enterprises within the scope of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce will be accelerated. The project also aims to create interaction between all actors of the digital world, which will assist the transformation process in virtual and physical environments. BACK ON STAGE FOR EU FUNDS Being eligible for funds under the ‘Turkey-EU Bussiness Dialogue Program,’ which is maintained by the TOBB and EUROCHAMBRESS coordination defined in the European Union’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, the stage for the evaluation of EU funds in accordance with the interests of member companies. Newsletter:https://drive.google.com/file/d/19beVkz7u5z5OMCNyr1wafXYiuxQHHI9o/view?ts=5d5a9f9b

29 Temmuz 2019 Pazartesi