The association has since last year been providing internship opportunities at international firms to skilled university students selected from southeastern Anatolia as part of the Koza Project. “Our biggest dream and desire is to see these students employing at least 100 people within 10 years. To this end, YASED will do whatever it can and increase the number of students included in the project each year,” Piraye Antika, the chairwoman of the association, said at a ceremony held yesterday to issue certificates to students who have completed their internship. Employment should be increased to ensure economic growth and the continuity of investment, she said, stressing that the Koza Project serves this aim. Last year 124 students interned in two separate periods, while this year 118 students interned at the headquarters or the Anatolian branches of YASED’s 55 member companies in only one period, Antika said.
Also commenting on the impact of recent development in Turkey on foreign investors, Antika noted that Turkey currently has a positive outlook in terms of economic risk. An upcoming referendum has caused some anxiety among investors, though it is too early to say whether its impact is positive or negative, she said. Increased terrorism, on the other hand, is a great risk, Antika stressed, adding that it might influence investment adversely.
