Think-Tank Representatives from 20 Countries Convene in Istanbul for the T20 Launch During the two-day event, an intensive program was carried out in nine meeting sessions.

ISTANBUL - Representatives from think-tanks based in 20 countries convened in Istanbul for the T20 Turkey launch, carrying out an intensive program during the two-day event.

On the first day, T20 participants met at the Boğaziçi University rectorate conference hall. The meeting started at 10:00 with the welcoming remarks by Şevket Pamuk, Director of the Boğaziçi University, Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History, and Güven Sak, TEPAV Director. Finishing at 22:00, six sessions were completed during the meeting: “The Challenges of Global Governance”, “Macroeconomic & Financial Cooperation”, “Trade and Investment”, “Infrastructure”, “Development Agenda”, and “Technology and Development.”

Richard Manning, one of the speakers at the event representing the University of Oxford, joined the program from the UK over Skype as he was not able to attend in person.

The second day of the event started at 10:00 with opening speeches by Güven Sak, İbrahim Çağlar, Chair of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, TOBB President, and Ali Babacan, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey. The speeches were followed by an open panel session entitled “Misthinking Globalization.”

The afternoon program stated with a session where outputs from the first day were assessed. Following this was a session entitled “How can T20 contribute to the global governance agenda?” The two-day workshop ended with a wrap-up session during which joint research areas for participants were decided.