Binali YILDIRIM
Minister of Transport and Communication,
The Republic of Turkey

It is a great privilege for me to welcome on the occasion of “the 24^th IPMA World Congress” which I believe to be the provider of a valuable opportunity for sharing information, knowledge and experience.

Turkey is a common route for the main arteries of trade and investment among Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa. Thus, it provides many important junction combinations among very important economic regions such as Middle East, the Balkans, the Black Sea Region, the Caucasus and North Africa.

One of the unique properties of Istanbul, the host city, is that it is the only city lying on two continents; Europe and Asia. These two continents are connected through two suspended bridges over the Strait of Istanbul -The Bosporus.

Turkey, besides its geopolitical importance, has also a very dynamic and rapidly growing economy, unsaturated local market, young and entrepreneurial population, an export-oriented industrial economy, rapidly developing information society.

Another economically important advantage, which is also a geographic consequence, is that Turkey is approximately 2 hours flight away from 52 countries, mostly European ones.

Transportation, communication and energy infrastructure is believed to be the backbone of national, regional and global economy.

We are now planning and implementing some of the largest and most important national, regional and international mega projects in Turkey’s history, such as Wireless Data Broadband, DVB-T Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial, Turkish Satellites, Suspended Bridges, Motorways, MARMARAY, High Speed Trains, Baku-Kars-Tbilisi Railway, Airports, Intercontinental Road Projects, Dams, NABUCO, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline, Blue Stream Natural Gas Pipeline, Nuclear Power Plants and several others.

The congress will bring together highly targeted top managers and professionals from all fields in emerging and leading economies.

Let’s share our experiences and knowledge with each other.