Turkish business body elects new president

By Eda Fatma Topcu and Handan Gunes

ISTANBUL (AA) - Simone Kaslowski was elected as the president of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD) on Wednesday.

"A challenging but exciting era is ahead of us," Kaslowski told the 49th general assembly of the association.

Turkey needs to strengthen its growth model to reach its targets, the newly-elected head said.

"Lucky us, our country has great opportunities in terms of human and sources of innovative ideas, the main drivers of the era. We will write quite a new Turkish story with effort, stability, and success," he underlined.

Erol Bilecik, the TUSIAD head preceding Kaslowski, said Turkey will preserve its position as a powerful country, benefitting its geographical location.

Kaslowski, 56, is the CEO of Organik Kimya, a company manufacturing chemicals, which is active in 80 countries.

He has been deputy president of TUSIAD since 2017.

TUSIAD, founded in 1971, is a voluntary, independent, non-governmental organization, which represents 85 percent of Turkey’s total foreign trade and 50 percent of the value-added production.

* Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul contributed to the story