The Closing event of the “Technical Assistance (institutional building) for Development of the Research & Technological Infrastructure of Gaziantep Technopark” project, led by PLANET, took place in Ankara, Turkey on the 13^th of June 2016.

The aim of the event, which signified the gradual closure of the project, was to present to key stakeholders, beneficiaries and relevant interested parties the work achieved during the course of the project.

The Closing event opened with speeches by Mr. Murat Altun – Head of IPA Unit, Dr. İlker Murat AR- General Director of DG S&T of MoSIT, Mr. François Begeot – Representative of the EU Delegation to Turkey, Ms. Serap Ozpolat Cete from Gaziantep Technopark, Mr. Petros Katsis- Project Director and Partner of PLANET. During the event Gaziantep Technopark experts presented the project’s achievements, challenges, findings, and recommendations, whereas participants had the opportunity to discuss on the presented results and examine matters of sustainability.

Overall the project served a threefold purpose, namely to provide technical assistance to support the Research and Technological Development & Innovation Initiative & Strategies in Gaziantep Province and related NUTS II Region (TRC 1); to increase the competitiveness of SMEs hosted by the Gaziantep Technopark and to provide technical assistance support in terms of capacity building to MoSIT DG for Science & Technology.

Among the key achievement of the project was the development of the Technopark’s Business Plan and Road map which set the Vision, Mission and Fundamental Values of the Technopark while defining the strategic aims and objectives for future development; the development of a Gaziantep SMEs inventory alongside with an evaluation methodology to improve the selection process of tenants; the implementation of a series of capacity building activities, business idea generation sessions, entrepreneurship seminars, study visits and technology platform events  as well as  the development of a series of important tools such as user guides (manuals) and training material.

The project, under the Regional Competitiveness Programme (RCOP) of IPA, has been implemented from 14 April 2014 by an international consortium led by PLANET.