To help OMU students enhance their foreign trade skills, a collaboration protocol was signed between Samsun Technopark, the Middle Black Sea Development Agency, and the Samsun Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

200 international students studying at OMU will receive training in foreign trade from professionals as part of the OKA's Technical Assistance Program, in accordance with the protocol titled "Increasing Samsun's Export Capacity."

OMU Rector Prof. Dr. Yavuz Ünal, OKA Secretary General İbrahim Ethem Şahin, Samsun Technopark Vice Chairman of the Management Board, and STSO Member of the Board Yiğit all signed at the signing ceremony held in the Rectorate Senate Hall.

Vice Rectors Prof. Dr. Cengiz Batuk, Prof. Dr. Selim Eren, Prof. Dr. Sevim Alışır, Prof. Dr. Mahmut Başoğlu, Secretary General of the University Assoc. Prof. İdris Varıcı, and Samsun Technopark General Manager Prof. Dr. Ekrem Altan also took part in the ceremony.

OKA Secretary General Şahin: “We will train foreign trade ambassadors for our region”

At the signing ceremony, İbrahim Ethem Şahin, who spoke first, described the project's features and remarked, "I am extremely delighted to be here at this protocol event, which we hope will substantially help to the economic development of our city. The Technical Assistance Program, which OKA has been running since 2012, has a tiny budget but a significant impact. In a way, we'll be training the participants to serve as our region's ambassadors for international trade. We predict that the project will have a feature that will spark a significant economic activity. The Technopark team will receive our assistance during the coming term so that they may complete the project's activities to the best level of excellence possible. We would want to express our gratitude to Samsun Technopark and our university for providing us with this chance.”

Samsun Technopark Vice Chairman of the Management Board Tören: “We are trying to evaluate the projects quickly and with a different perspective"

Samsun Technopark Vice Chairman of the Management Board, and STSO Member of the Board Yiğit Tören stated that they support any project that will benefit the city’s economy and said: “In keeping with the approach that our Rector has taken since joining the administration, we are attempting to evaluate both university-industry collaboration and projects that will have a positive impact on Samsun's development with a different perspective and as soon as possible.The Technical Assistance Project, which we will sign with the help of OKA, demonstrates the city's unity and integrity. Although Samsun Technopark is the project's implementer, our University, OKA, and STSO are all on board to ensure that the project runs smoothly, quickly, and effectively. I'd like to thank everyone who contributed, especially our Rector.”

Rector Ünal: "We intend to present the potential of our international students to producers and industrialists in the geographies to which they belong"

In his comments on the protocol, Rector Prof. Dr. Yavuz Ünal stated that the project's foundation is to contribute to Samsun's ecosystem and said; “The aim of the project is to integrate the elements of Samsun with the city and add them to the city throughout the process." The project is significant for the University because it is a component of education. We want to base this collaboration on education and manage these processes through education. OMU is a university with 5,500 students from 120 different countries. The 'Cultural Ambassadors' project, which we implemented in collaboration with the OMU Foundation, was the other leg of this collaboration. With the help of this protocol, we will work to provide the city and nation with competent international human resources. In addition to mapping our students' geographic locations, the project will receive technical assistance. We want to highlight the potential there and show it to the entrepreneurs and manufacturers in our country and region. By working with our friends who are familiar with the local language and trade customs, we want to make the transactions easier and turn our international students into a middleman in the process rather than just carrying out the transactions ourselves.”

By improving education, we hope to generate more demand for qualified students as well as financial gain

Emphasizing that they hope to gain profits in two aspects with the project, Rector Ünal continued his words as follows: “One of them is to improve education, which will lead to a rise in the demand for skilled students at universities. Another is accelerating a process that will benefit OMU and Samsun economically. Acting in this situation is crucial, but acting swiftly is even more crucial because doing so gives you the chance to assess fresh opportunities. I would like to thank each institution for their contribution and hope the project will be successful.

The project's implementation period within the scope of the protocol is six months.