Dr. Ömer Kocaman, Deputy Secretary General of the Turkic Council participated, on 4 June 2018 in Gebze, in the inauguration ceremony of” the Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries (LDCs)” to be hosted by the Republic of Turkey as a new United Nations (UN) entity.

The Bank aims to improve the LDCs’ scientific research innovation base, promote networking among research institutions and help the LDCs to access and utilize critical and appropriate technologies. In this regard, it directly targets to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal no. 17 concerning strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development.

The ceremony was kicked off with the welcoming remarks of Heidi Schroderus-Fox, Acting Managing Director of the Technology Bank for LDCs and Director of UN-OHRLLS. The programme continued with the opening remarks of Dr. Faruk Özlü, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey, and Amina J. Muhammed, Deputy Secretary General of the UN. Following the speeches, a MoU for cooperation was signed between the abovementioned Bank, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey and Global Good Foundation. The inauguration ended with the group photo and ribbon-cutting ceremony with the attendance of Dr. Kocaman. After the inauguration ceremony, a panel was organized to discuss the future contribution of the Technology Bank to the sustainable development of LDCs.

In the margins of the inauguration ceremony, Dr. Kocaman also met with Minister Özlü and informed him about the activities of the Turkic Council in the field of science and technology focusing particularly on information and communication technologies.

Project Directors Pelin Musabay Baki and Jhyldyz Uzakova accompanied the Deputy Secretary General Dr. Kocaman at the event.