Today ministers including Greg Hands (Minister of State for International Trade), Judith Slater HMCG (British Consul-General to Istanbul) and His Excellency Abdurrahman Bilgic (Turkish Ambassador) joined senior members of the Arçelik Group and parent company Koç Holding, to announce the official opening of Beko Plc’s first R&D Centre in Cambridge.
The event was celebrated at King’s College Cambridge where Rahmi. M. Koç, CBE, Honorary Chairman of Koç Holding, unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the occasion. Influential members of Parliament spoke directly with the Koç family, a Fortune 500 company and Turkey’s largest industrial conglomerate, hearing more about why the UK continues to feature prominently in their development plans.
Turkey and the UK trade volume has reached over $15B in the last year and the UK is currently Turkey’s second largest export market. Turkey and the UK enjoy strong economic ties and with efforts to increase bilateral trade and investment top of the agenda between the two countries, the event provided the ideal backdrop for key figures to discuss progression and opportunities.
The Beko Plc R&D Centre at Cambridge has a primary objective to develop innovative solutions for the home, focusing on; intelligent product technologies, advanced materials that improve overall product performance and progressive manufacturing. Its opening cements Beko Plc’s position as a leader of innovation within the home appliance sector.
Rahmi M. Koç, CBE, Honorary Chairman of Koç Holding says, “We’re delighted to unveil our 10th R&D centre, and our first here in the UK. We’d like to create a strong ecosystem between the UK and Turkey whereby our drive for innovation fuels growth.”
“We aim to double our size here in the UK & Ireland in the next five years and research and development remains essential to that. Last year we submitted over 300 patent applications, and we are committed to ensuring that we remain at the forefront of the industry.”
International Trade Minister Greg Hands says, “The new Beko Research & Development Centre opens up a world of fantastic opportunities, not just for Cambridge but for the whole of the UK. This is another vote of confidence in the UK as the place to do business, and the Department for International Trade has been working closely with the Arcelik Group to support the opening of this centre which will keep the UK at the forefront of innovative product development and energy efficient home appliances.”
His Excellency Abdurrahman Bilgic, the Turkish Ambassador says, “Trade is the building block of the relations between our two countries, and the UK is one of our leading trading partners. Turkey’s position as a manufacturing hub and its proximity to the UK market makes us a reliable partner, and today marks another great example of Turkish business making a big commitment to UK trade, and targeting investment in research and development. We believe there are opportunities we can explore to bring our countries closer together. There is no doubt that Beko will add even more value to its products through innovative work carried out at the newly-opened Centre.”
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