TOKYO, JAPAN – Media OutReach – 3 April 2020 – The Asian Productivity
Organization (APO) announced that the Republic of Turkey had become its newest
member on 11 March 2020. With the inclusion of Turkey, the APO now has 21
member economies.
APO Governing Body
Chair and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Kingdom of Thailand,
Kobchai Sungsitthisawad extended a welcome on behalf of all members: “We are
delighted to welcome Turkey as our 21st member. We are particularly grateful to
Dr. Halil İbrahim Çetin, the APO Director for Turkey. This is an important step
for Turkey’s productivity movement as it can now benefit through policy
advisory and other APO initiatives in a wide range of fields. We are very
pleased to include more diversity in the APO family and looking forward to
mutual cooperation with Turkey. Congratulations.”
“The Ministry of Industry and
Technology of the Republic of Turkey is delighted to be a member of the APO
family. We all recognize that the concept of productivity has gained more
importance in our lives. Therefore, it is essential to share productivity
experiences with other countries in all areas of production,” said Minister of Industry and Technology
Mustafa Varank. He added, “Turkey has been a site of investment for many projects in
different areas, and lean production techniques and digital transformation have
increasingly been applied industry-wide. We would be happy to learn about the
valuable experiences of other APO member countries.”
In welcoming Turkey, APO Secretary-General Dr. AKP Mochtan stated, “We look
forward to opening new avenues of cooperation and further strengthening our
partnerships. Turkey’s active participation will expand the productivity
movement in the region and beyond, thus realizing a more productive,
sustainable, inclusive Asia-Pacific.”
The APO is an intergovernmental
organization established in 1961 to increase productivity in the Asia-Pacific
region through mutual cooperation. The APO Secretariat is located in Tokyo, Japan.
