Published: August 18, 2009
Chatham House has announced that Suzan Sabancı Dinçer, chairman and executive board member of Akbank, is joining the Chatham House panel of senior advisers.
Sabancı Dinçer is Luxembourg's honorary consul of Istanbul, member of Citigroup's international advisory board and of the National Bank of Kuwait international advisory board, and a founder and board member of Endeavour Turkey.
She is also a member of the YPO (Young Presidents' Organisation), TÜSİAD (Turkish Industrialists' and Business Association) and KAGİDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey). Sabancı Dinçer has been a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader since 2006, and has been profiled by both the Financial Times and Newsweek as one of the top business figures in Turkey.
Akbank is Turkey’s most valuable company in terms of market capitalisation and is one of Turkey’s preeminent banks. It also has a strategic partnership with Citigroup.
Robin Niblett, director, Chatham House says: “Chatham House is delighted that Suzan Sabancı Dinçer is joining the Chatham House panel of senior advisers, which will particularly benefit from her expertise on Turkey and on international economic and financial issues. We are also very pleased to cooperate with Akbank and Sabancı University – one of Turkey's leading universities – to capture the strategic role that Turkey increasingly plays in the international policy debates.”
Sabancı Dinçer said: “I look forward to actively participating among a group of globally eminent leaders in the panel of senior advisers at Chatham House, one of the world's leading organisations in analysing and promoting the understanding of major international issues.”
She continues: “Turkey is among the most vibrant and strategic countries in the world and we have the utmost confidence that Turkish businesses will be playing more important roles on a global scale. Akbank is very happy to cooperate with Chatham House on enhancing the understanding of Turkey's impact on a range of strategic international issues.”
Furthermore, Chatham House announced the launch of the Turkey Project in cooperation with Akbank. This project will illuminate the implications of Turkey’s position for the strategic interests of European, US and other governments. The topics that will be covered in this project include:
- assessing Turkey's strategic role in its neighbouring regions
- understanding the strategic leadership roles which Turkish banks and businesses will play in Turkey's economic and social development and in fostering closer economic relations between Turkey and its regional and global partners
- discussing and contributing to the debates over Turkey's EU membership journey