7th EURASIA HIGHER EDUCATION SUMMIT

Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank stated that Turkey achieved the highest performance among the G20, European Union (EU) and OECD countries with a growth rate of 11 percent last year, "In the same period, the growth in our industry was 16.6 percent. We expect this growth to continue increasingly in the coming period, with the high performances we have achieved in investment, production, exports and employment." said.

Minister Varank attended the 7th Eurasian Higher Education Summit with a video message.

In his message, Varank expressed his regret for the Russian attack on Ukraine, which has been going on since last week, and said, "It is our common desire for this geography to be remembered with science and technology instead of wars and conflicts, and to make inventions that will contribute to the development of all humanity. I wish this unacceptable situation, which negatively affects the Eurasian geography, to end as soon as possible." used the phrases.

Pointing out the importance of universities in the development of countries, Varank drew attention to the fact that they have made important breakthroughs for the development of universities in the last 20 years.

At this point, Varank said that ensuring equality of opportunity in education is their top priority and stated that the number of universities in Turkey increased to 206, the number of lecturers increased to 180 thousand, and the number of students reached 8 million 240 thousand.

Emphasizing that they want to make Turkey a global brand in higher education, Varank explained that they are working hard to increase the quality of universities.

IMPORTANT TASKS FROM UNIVERSITIES

Stating that economies are now dealing with complex problems such as climate change, epidemics, digitalization, energy and food supply security, Varank said, "Universities have very important duties in producing innovative solutions to these problems and directing the society." said.

Emphasizing that the era of universities around the world as isolated structures providing uniform theoretical education has come to an end, and these institutions pioneered many innovations, Varank said:

"In parallel with this new trend, we support our universities to move away from monotony, to specialize by diversifying their missions, and to develop more collaborations with both the public and private sectors. We have established all the necessary mechanisms and infrastructures for this transformation and cooperation, and we are still developing new ones. "We have equipped them with infrastructures, test laboratories, technology development zones, technology transfer offices and entrepreneurship centers. We have established an advanced intellectual property system in our country. We have encouraged our academics to do R&D and develop technology-oriented projects with comprehensive scholarships and support programs, and we continue to do so."

Stating that they enabled the production of more knowledge and technology in universities, and then their commercialization and bringing them into the economy, Varank expressed that they were pleased to see the positive results of this approach.

WE WILL WORK FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNIVERSITIES

Referring to the economic growth data announced at the beginning of the week, Varank said:

"Turkey has achieved the highest performance among G20, EU and OECD countries with a growth rate of 11 percent in 2021. In the same period, the growth in our industry was 16.6 percent. With the high performances we achieved in investment, production, exports and employment in 2021, this growth is expected to continue in the future." We expect it to continue to increase over the period.”

Emphasizing that as the government, they have always carried out all the studies they have been carrying out for 20 years with an understanding based on a scientific basis based on data, Varank stated that they will make intense efforts for the development of universities in this direction in the coming period.

Stating that they will work to make the higher education system one of the attraction centers of the region and the world, Varank noted that they will continue the technological development under the leadership of scientists by transferring the knowledge and experience in these areas to the economy.