The Global Entrepreneurship Network's (GEN) annual four-day congress began in Turkey's Istanbul on Monday, welcoming nearly 400 speakers from around the world, including academics, politicians, businesspeople, and representatives of global organizations such as the World Bank and the OECD.
Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci stressed that financing can always be found but to find entrepreneurs was the true challenge.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey would provide considerable support to entrepreneurs as "huge targets" needed "huge reforms".
"Economy is a game of which the rules are changing day by day, and we can move on the road with research and development, and design centers," Zeybekci said at the opening ceremony of the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Istanbul.
He added that through Turkey's new project-based incentive, 23 projects from 19 firms given 135 billion Turkish liras ($32.6 billion) .
Zeybekci added that new incetive-based organizations would be created until the end of the year in order to contribute to the reduction of Turkey's current deficit.
"We invite enterpreneurs from all around the world to invest in Turkey," he said.
Ali Sabanci, chairman of Pegasus Airlines, said entrepreneurship raised economic and social welfare.
"But entrepreneurship cannot work without an ecosystem that includes the public and private sectors," he added.
Several countries and cities compete to become the center of entrepreneurship and Istanbul has an opportunity to claim that distinction, he said.
"Istanbul has access to a huge market and people can reach the capitals of 59 countries in 4 hours or less," he underlined.
The congress is hosted by the Economy Ministry, the Turkish Exporters Assembly, entrepreneurship associations Endeavor Turkey and Habitat.
