Hüseyin Sert, Director of EU Relations, and his team of Project Coordinators Akın Özkardaş and Ülkü Gül visited the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Istanbul. During the meeting attended by Mr. Bart van Bolhuis, Consul General of the Netherlands in Istanbul, and Ms. Sirel Ceren Erten, consular official. Mr. Bolhuis stated that IMM and the Netherlands are partners in EU projects and that they are pleased with this cooperation. The Consul General was informed that IMM has recently participated in the EU project “Road Maps for Energy” under the leadership of Eindhoven and that the POP-MACHINA project, which is also a new EU project, continues to work with the Venlo Municipality of the Netherlands for 48 months.  The Consul General emphasized that Eindhoven and Amsterdam, together with IMM, take part in the Urban Mobility Committee of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, and stated that the Netherlands works on four priority issues in the field of livable cities, namely mobility, cities resilient to climate change and natural disasters, circular economy and food waste management.

Stating that they follow a multi-modal, integrated transportation policy in the field of mobility, the Consul General said that they have established a platform in cooperation with international institutions where all relevant stakeholders come together in the field of circular economy and that they work with the understanding of public-private partnership. Emphasizing that recycling projects in the field of industrial textiles are one of their priorities, the Consul General stated that İSTAÇ is an important stakeholder in this field. In addition, they stated that they cooperate with İSBAK, İSPARK, İETT, İSTAÇ within the scope of sustainable cities. Stating that they will organize a workshop in the field of energy efficiency open to the participation of IBB and district municipalities soon, the Consul General stated that Dutch companies will be present at the workshop.

Dr. Hüseyin Sert emphasized that urban agriculture is one of the priorities of IMM and that the experiences of the Netherlands can be utilized in this field. Upon the suggestion that cooperation could be established with the Consulate General of the Netherlands on social and cultural projects, the Consul General said that projects on social and cultural issues are already being carried out with Şişli Municipality and some non-governmental organizations. In particular, the Consul General stated that they are working on the integration of asylum seekers into the business world. In conclusion, both sides underlined that there is potential cooperation between IMM and the Netherlands on many issues and confirmed that they will work together soon to realize these potential cooperation issues.