We met with a group of the Foreign Economic Relationship Board of Turkey (DEIK) to show them the potential and capacity of Basque companies in the different value chains of the energy sector.

Within the BIEMH framework and thanks to SPRI, we had the opportunity to showcase the Basque Energy Cluster activity and the strengths of Basque companies operating in the energy sector to a group of DEIK highest representatives. DEIK, grouping the major business holdings in the country with over 1,000 business members and 2,000 representatives of those businesses, has the mission to manage foreign economic relationships of the private Turkish sector in fields related to foreign trade, international investments and services, business export and development.

Representatives gained detailed knowledge of the capacity of Basque companies in different technological fields, how they complement the sector value chains and their strong international expansion, as well as the most representative projects and most relevant support infrastructures to carry out R&D and product validation activities. Some of the fields which attracted most of their interest were: Smart Grids; Oil&Gas; Electric Vehicles, where they already have European-funded projects under way; and Marine Energy, current technologies in particular.

DEIK representatives highlighted their firm intention to establish collaboration among Basque and Turkish companies, as well as extending and strengthening the relationship between Basque companies already established in Turkey and the local business fabric. To do so, they expressed their full commitment to progress with any networking necessary after the meeting to identify and materialise all possible collaboration opportunities which may arise.