Four agreements signed to strengthen bilateral synergies, and the Business Matching Platform officially launched in Turkey
The Italy-Turkey Business Forum was held in Rome in the presence of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Organised alongside the fourth Italy-Turkey Intergovernmental Summit, the event brought together companies and institutions from both countries to explore opportunities for further economic and trade cooperation, especially in the energy and infrastructure sectors, with a focus on products Made in Italy and SMEs.
As part of Italy's "Export Plan" strategy to strengthen bilateral cooperation and support Italian companies interested in investing and growing in Turkey, the event was attended by Pasquale Salzano, Head of European and International Affairs at CDP, and Regina Corradini D’Arienzo, Chief Executive Officer of Simest, both representing the CDP Group.
During the day, CDP signed three Memoranda of Understanding with: Türkiye Kalkınma ve Yatırım Bankası ("TKYB"), Turkey's state-owned development and investment bank; Türk Eximbank, the country’s export credit agency; and Türkiye Sınai Kalkınma Bankası A.Ş. ("TSKB"), the first private local investment bank, which previously received a 50 million euro loan under the Italian Climate Fund.
A fourth agreement was signed by Regina Corradini D’Arienzo on behalf of SIMEST with Invest in Turkey, the country’s investment promotion agency.
The agreements aim to establish a framework for future financing opportunities for high-impact projects in Turkey generating economic, social and environmental value, and to foster collaboration between Turkish and Italian companies in strategic sectors such as climate and environment, energy access, food security, agriculture, sustainable infrastructure and private sector development. The initiatives also promote local job creation (supporting SMEs) and contribute positively to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
On 7 April, thanks to the support of numerous public and private actors, the Business Matching Platform was also officially launched in Turkey with the aim of encouraging networking and creating new opportunities for cooperation between Italian and Turkish businesses.
The online event earlier this month attracted nearly 550 participating companies from both countries. Currently, around 390 Turkish companies are registered on the Platform and now have access to Business Matching services and the Marketplace, where more than 200 Italian companies are active and ready to connect and set up meetings.
In the first ten days following the launch, 61 B2B meetings were successfully held, demonstrating strong interest and the clear potential of the initiative. More meetings are already being planned.