Yıldız Holding hosted the Private Sector Awareness event for Horizon Europe Program, a significant civil R&D and innovation program conducted by the European Union (EU).  Experts from the Horizon Europe Program and TÜBİTAK authorities informed the executives of Yıldız Holding and its companies about the project. 

An awareness meeting was held about the European Union-led “Horizon Europe” program under the roof of Yıldız Holding, which uninterruptedly works for a sustainable future through its R&D and innovation investments. Hosted by Yıldız Holding Vice Chair and CEO Mehmet Tütüncü, the meeting was attended by Directorate for European Union Affairs Director General for Financial Cooperation and Project Implementation Bülent Özcan, Horizon Europe Program experts, and TÜBİTAK authorities. Aiming to provide grants and technical support to projects to be implemented in the fields of research and innovation between 2021-2027, Horizon Europe supports innovative efforts in such areas as climate change adaptation, soil health and food, and digital technologies. 

Tütüncü: “We continue investing in R&D and innovation toward a sustainable future.” 

Pointing to the fact that Horizon Europe is a program opening the door for collaboration opportunities in various areas for Yıldız Holding, Mehmet Tütüncü said: “We work toward a more flexible, technology-oriented, and visionary structure at Yıldız Holding and its companies. By continuously investing in innovation and R&D, we aim to prepare our lines of business for the future, offer sustainable alternatives to our customers through purpose-driven business models and products, get stronger in the competition, and make a positive environmental and social impact as we do so. From this perspective, I believe the Horizon Europe Program is a valuable initiative to which our Holding and its companies can make significant contributions and will take forward-looking steps through highly successful projects implemented in synergy.” 

Özcan: “We invite the private sector, SMEs, and industrial organizations to take advantage of all the opportunities enabled by the Horizon Europe Program.” 

In his speech at the event, Directorate for European Union Affairs Director General for Financial Cooperation and Project Implementation Bülent Özcan said:  “Implemented by the European Union for the period between 2021-2027, Horizon Europe is the world’s highest-budget civil R&D program with EUR 95.5 billion. Having signed our participation agreement in October 2021, we are part of this program as Turkey. For our country to get the most out of this program, it is essential that the private sector gets involved in the process and develops projects. At this meeting hosted by Yıldız Holding, we had the chance to introduce the Horizon Europe Program with the TÜBİTAK authorities responsible for the program’s coordination in Turkey to Yıldız Holding companies and the organizations they work with. We shared the opportunities for future projects in many areas, including sustainability, green transformation, digitalization, food, entrepreneurship, manufacturing industry transformation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. I hope our private sector will take more advantage of these opportunities in the upcoming period.”