B20 – Türkiye Dialogue Meeting Held

B20 – Turkey Dialogue Meeting Held Erol Kiresepi, Chairman of the Board of Santa Farma Pharmaceuticals, Vice Chairman of the Board of KİPLAS (Turkish Chemical, Petroleum, Rubber and Plastics Industry Employers' Association), Honorary President of IOE and Co-Chair of the B20 Employment & Education Task Force, spoke at a webinar titled "B20 – Turkey Dialogue" organized in partnership between TÜSİAD and the B20 Italy Presidency. The "B20 – Turkey Dialogue" webinar, organized in partnership between TÜSİAD and the B20 Italy Presidency to share the core outputs of work conducted ahead of the B20 Summit with the Turkish business community and to increase interaction between the business world and the G20, took place on 23 September 2021. Opening remarks were delivered by Simone Kaslowski, Chairman of TÜSİAD Board and Member of B20 International Advisory Council, and B20 President Emma Marcegaglia. The main speaker was Raci Kaya, Turkey's G20 Sherpa. Erol Kiresepi, Chairman of Santa Farma Pharmaceuticals Board, Vice Chairman of KİPLAS Board, Honorary President of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and Co-Chair of the B20 Employment & Education Task Force; Levent Çakıroğlu, CEO of Koç Holding and Co-Chair of the B20 Trade & Investment Task Force; Simone Mori, Vice Chair of the B20 Energy & Resource Efficiency Task Force; and Roberto Scrivo, Vice Chair of the B20 Digital Transformation Task Force shared policy recommendations and core policy proposals on topics such as climate change and women's empowerment, which are priority areas for the B20 International Advisory Council. In his remarks, B20 Employment & Education Task Force Co-Chair Erol Kiresepi addressed the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour markets, noting that according to International Labour Organization (ILO) data, an estimated 255 million full-time equivalent jobs were lost in 2020, a figure approximately four times the job losses during the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Kiresepi noted that during his four-year tenure as President of the IOE, which represents more than 50 million companies in 145 countries, important activities were conducted to develop the relationship between labour markets and education, and shared B20's recommendations on this matter with participants. Kiresepi stated that B20 first recommended that G20 governments prepare workforce skills for future industrial revolutions. In its second recommendation, B20 pointed to the need to improve labour market policies and regulatory frameworks to increase productivity and growth. Addressing B20's third recommendation on the matter, Erol Kiresepi noted that measures to increase employment for youth and women and reduce informality were recommended. At the end of his remarks, Kiresepi emphasized that the critical point going forward is how these recommendations will be implemented, and stated that B20, as a representative of the business world, will continue to support the G20 and G20 members in the fields of education and employment. In the final session of the programme, Zeynep Bodur Okyay, Member of the B20 International Advisory Council, presented the business world's assessments on "Women's Empowerment and Climate Change," core priorities of the B20 International Advisory Council. The B20 recommendations to be presented to G20 leaders will be shared with the public at the B20 Summit to be held in Rome on 7-8 October.