Held on 15-16th October in Istanbul, Turkiye the regional summit brought together 800 delegates from 62 countries with the theme "A Collaborative Approach to Climate Action."

The event provided information on the latest developments in climate change and focussed on raising awareness of the practices that chambers and the business community are implementing in response to climate risk considerations, including investment plans, corporate strategies and corporate social responsibilities. The event gathered top officials and representatives of other commerce chambers from the wider region, including Azerbaijan, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

Rifat Hisarciklioglu President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), the largest business organization in Türkiye, and Chair of the ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF).

Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his opening speech, said 75% of global trade is governed by WTO rules, which provide stability and predictability. "To meet the challenges of the 21st century, we must work together to preserve and improve these rules. The business world must actively support these changes." he stressed.

As part of his remarks, he pointed that Istanbul is one of the most important business centres in the world, connecting the continents. He also highlighted the significance of the climate theme of the event, referring to the upcoming COP29 summit to be held in Azerbaijan, expressing the hope that the exchange of ideas and discussions would contribute to the global goals.

"I hope that our Europe and Asia summit will offer new opportunities to our businesspeople and lead to new projects." Hisarcıklıoğlu said.

The summit included a section of Women in Business hosted by the WCF Women Council, exploring the unique challenges and opportunities faced by women in leadership roles in business and how the participation of women in chambers of commerce is crucial for fostering inclusive and diverse economic growth.