Turkey, France seek cooperation over technologial parks

Jean-Noel Durvy, the CEO of Sophia Antipolis, the world's second-largest technological park (technopark), said yesterday that they would like to cooperate with similar facilities in Turkey. Welcoming Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergun yesterday in Nice, France, Durvy said he plans to visit Turkey later this month to meet with technopark executives to discuss opportunities for bilateral cooperation. Touring Sophia Antipolis yesterday, Ergun heard about the firms working there, including Ask, a company which exports security cards, bank cards and chips to many countries, including Turkey. "Silicon Valley is world's biggest technopark, while Sophia Antipolis is a technology region with 40 years of experience," Ergun said later. "Most of Turkey's technoparks are small and located on university campuses, whereas Sophia Antipolis is a large technology region with a university in it. Seeing Sophia Antipolis helps us consider the advantages and disadvantages of technoparks in Turkey." He added that his ministry is working on projects to unite small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in the technology sector with entrepreneurs. "With this project we will support SMEs who are seeking new projects with entrepreneurs who lack the capital to fund their projects," he said. "For instance, we can bring together entrepreneurs with SMEs by organizing 'techno-cafe days' on Sundays where entrepreneurs can present their projects to these firms and the SMEs could share their experiences."