Universities to host MIT Enterprise Forum

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Sabancı University Rector Nihat Berker (L), Selçuk Kiper (C) of MIT Enterprise Forum and Özyeğin University Rector Erhan Erkut pose at yesterday’s meeting.

Istanbul’s Sabancı and Özyeğin universities will host the MIT Enterprise Forum, a rooted event founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technologies’ alumni, between March 28 and 30, bringing together investors and business professionals from all around the world. 

“Turkey ranks among the leading countries in entrepreneurship culture, but still the number of university graduates who start up their own business is insufficient,” said Erhan Erkut, rector of Özyeğin University, speaking at a press meeting on the event yesterday.

“We are aiming to increase the number of graduates realizing their dreams through starting up their own companies,” said Nihat Berker, rector of Sabancı University, adding that the MIT Enterprise Forum would bring a new dynamism to the country’s entrepreneurs. 

“There will be investors chasing the great ideas of the entrepreneurs participating in the summit,” said Selçuk Kiper, vice president of MIT Enterprise Forum Turkey. “Still only 5-6 percent of people living in Turkey are entrepreneurs, whereas this is at around 8-9 percent in other emerging countries,” Kiper added. 

Hanzade Doğan, vice chairperson of Doğan Holding and Ferit Şahenk, chairman of Doğuş Holding will be among the key speakers at the event. The world’s leading entrepreneurs such as Ashok Rao, chairman of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE) and Iqbal Quadir, founder of Bangladeshi Gonofone and Grameenphone, will attend the forum.