21st National Quality Congress was held with the theme of “Livable Tomorrow"

As part of their effort to raise awareness in quality and spread the concept of quality management, TÜSİAD and Turkish Society for Quality (KALDER) organized in partnership 21st National Quality Congress and Awards with the theme of “Livable Tomorrow” on November 20th and 21st, 2012 at the Istanbul Lütfi Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Centre (ICEC).

The opening addresses of the Congress were delivered by Ms. Ümit Boyner, President of the Board of Directors of TÜSİAD and Mr. A. Hamdi Doğan, President of the Board of Directors of KALDER.

Ms. Boyner stated in her address that TÜSİAD has determined the concept of sustainable development as the basic determinant and main priority of the coming period. She said: “Accordingly, we prepared “Vision 2050 Turkey” report as a vision for the sustainable development of Turkey. This report determines the steps to be taken to achieve a sustainable Turkey by 2050, and offer a roadmap to follow.” Stressing the need for Turkey which achieved to become 17th largest economy of the world, to reflect its global economic success to its development indicators, Ms. Boyner said: “According to the Human Development Indices of 2011, Turkey ranks 92nd among 173 countries. E-7 countries including Turkey are forecasted to surpass G-7 economies by 2032, are however among worst performers of this index. Many European countries, USA and Canada, in spite of many criticisms about their slowing down economies, are the top 10 performers. This shows also that economic growth alone cannot ensure human development. While Turkey advances toward its target of being among the top 10 economies of the world by 2023, we should also make our development sustainable and pay due attention to the components of human development. Or, put in another way, we should establish a balance between the necessity of the life and the sustainability of the natural resources.”

Mr. Hamdi Doğan declared that this year, 9 finalists from different industries were competing for the 21st Quality Awards and he said: “8 out of the 9 finalists applied to the award process from Anatolian cities. 5 out of 7 companies which applied for the commitment certificates, and 17 out of 22 companies which applied for the competence, as part of the award process were from Anatolia. These figures demonstrate that we are now getting the feed back from our contribution to the industrial structure in Anatolia.” Underlining the importance of creating awareness about the concept of competitive, sustainable development among the municipal authorities, development agencies and academia, all taking part in the development of local economies, Mr Hamdi Doğan stated: “To this end, we maintain our regional expansion process. In addition to our four branch offices, we are establishing new contact points with representative offices in the trade and industrial centers as part of our expansion strategy. There are two important developments in this year, in the domain of quality in the public administration where we spent much effort during recent years. The first is the implementation of EFQM model at the Ministry of Finance Presidency of Revenue Administration. The process is still continuing now for a year, with the support of EU funds. The second important development is the adoption of EFQM Perfection Model by the newly established Ministry of Family and Social Policy, from the beginning. In the past 20 years, we provided Perfection Model education for more than 80 thousand people. 45 thousand people participated in our congresses. With the National Quality Movement we initiated, the number of participating institutions is now close to 500.”

In the first day of the congress the prospects of Turkey in the field of economics and in other areas such as education, health, and energy were discussed and Mr. Bilal Kaafarani, Chief Innovation Officer and Group President of R & D with Yıldız Holding, Mr. Hasan Çağıl, Chairman of the Public Hospitals Authority of Turkey, Ms. Zeynep Bodur Okyay, President of the Board of Directors of Kale Group, Mr. Steven Young, from the Bosch Turkey, Ms. Galya Frayman Molinas, President of Turkey, Caucasus & Central Asia Business Unit of the Coca-Cola Company shared their experience with the participants.

In the second day of the congress, Ms. Fatma Şahin, Minister of Family and Social Policy, Mr. Andrew Keen, a heterodox entrepreneur of Silicon Valley, Mr. Kenan Yavuz, CEO of Socar Turkey, Mr. Haydar Yenigün, General Manager of Ford Otosan, Mr. İbrahim Aybar, General Manager of Renault Mais, Mr. Süleyman Varlıbaş President of the Board of Directors of Varyap, and Mr. Emre Çamlıbel, CEO of Soyak Holding shared their points of view and opinions about the future of Turkey.

20. National Quality Achievement Awards were presented to Boytaş, İstikbal and Petkim in the category of enterprises, and to the municipalities of Şanlıurfa and Tarsus in the category of Public Administration and Services.

The winner in the category of Large Scale Enterprises Petkim Petrokimya, the winner in the category of Operational Unit of Large Scale Enterprises Boytaş and İstikbal, and, the winner in the category of Public Administration and Services the municipalities of Şanlıurfa and Tarsus received their awards with a ceremony. 5 enterprises and 5 public institutions applied for the National Quality Awards, and nine applicants were selected as finalists following the assessment of 108 evaluators. Final evaluation was made by the 7 members of the jury chaired by the General Secretariat of the Presidency. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Durman, President of the Quality Awards Executive Committee, stated that the National Quality Awards is the largest and most prestigious event in the field of quality in Turkey. Mr. Durman noted also that the enterprises and public institutions are evaluated in the same framework which is continuously updated with the definitions and concepts of EFQM Perfection Model, the reference system on which the evaluation criteria are based.