The 9th International paintistanbul & Turkcoat Congress and Exhibition, organized by the Association of Paint Industry (Bosad) and Chem Media on December 5-6, broke an attendance record. The congress, held over two days, saw a total attendance of 1425 visitors, with 71 international attendees. This remarkable figure stands as the highest recorded number of visitors among all the congresses held thus far.
The congress, which attracted great interest from the first day, hosted the leading companies of the paint industry, senior executives and field expert academics for two days.
The opening speeches of the congress were delivered by Erdal Bahçıvan, President of İSO; Adil Pelister, Vice President of TİM and President of İKMİB; Timur Erk, Chairman of TOBB Chemical Industry Council; Kenan Baytaş, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BOSAD; Hakan Ünel, Vice President of BOSAD and Chairman of the Fair and Congress Working Group; Ahmet Burhan Özdemir, Chairman of the Scientific Board of BOSAD; and Cengiz Yaman, Founder and CEO of Artkim Group.
In his opening speech, Erdal Bahçıvan, President of İSO, emphasized that the necessity of sustainable production has increased even more due to the climate crisis, and drew attention to the importance of the paintistanbul&Turkcoat Congress bringing together paint manufacturers, raw material suppliers, and officials from universities, institutes and research centers to discuss sustainability criteria. Bahçıvan congratulated Bosad and its board of directors for hosting this organization.
Adil Pelister, Vice President of TİM and President of İKMİB, pointed out that the main themes of the congress, namely innovation, sustainability, functionality, digitalization and artificial intelligence, are important enough to affect and even shape the future of not only the paint industry, but also the chemical industry in particular and the economy of our country in general.
“We Are Trying to Bring Our industry to a Better Place by Working together with Patience and Dedication”
Kenan Baytaş, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BOSAD, expressed his pleasure at reconnecting in person at the congress following the pandemic: “Dear guests, our share in the world paint industry market of 192 billion dollars is two percent. With a total volume of 1 million tons, our Turkish Paint Industry has the power to maintain its place in the world under all circumstances.
We are trying to elevate our industry to greater heights by working together with patience and dedication. With your valuable participation today, we are opening our international congress, which is the first part of our congress and fair project and one of the largest scale works of Bosad. Our fair will take place at Istanbul Expo Center between May 8-10. On this special occasion, we extend a warm welcome to you to join us at our fair.”
In his speech, Hakan Ünel, Vice President of BOSAD and Chairman of the Fair and Congress Working Group, said: “We can list the objectives of our congress, which has a truly international identity, as making Turkey the center of paint technologies in our region, developing cooperation between universities, industry and other related organizations, leading the development of the paint industry by creating a platform where the latest technology, trends and regulations are discussed and followed, and contributing to the awareness and integrity of our industry by organizing a fair one year and a congress one year.
Dear friends, the importance and potential of our industry, which operates at the intersection of Europe – Asia – Africa, will increase even more with the right strategies in the coming years. The international congress and exhibition cycle that complement each other will undoubtedly be one of the most important cornerstones of this development.”
Shaping the Future of the Industry with Innovation, Sustainability and Functionality
Cengiz Yaman, Founder and CEO of Artkim Group, the organizing company of the congress, stated that they are proud to take part in such a scientific congress in the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. Yaman: “paintistanbul&Turkcoat Congress aims to shape the future of the industry with topics such as innovation, sustainability and functionality. In today’s world where the agenda and technologies are advancing at a dizzying pace, I think it will be highly beneficial for the industry to come together with such comprehensive events annually.”
The Congress Contributed to University-Industry Collaboration
The congress, which set out with the motto “Towards a Smarter and Sustainable Future”, hosted presentations and speeches on topics such as innovation, sustainability, functionality, digitalization, artificial intelligence and other topics that will carry the industry forward. The paintistanbul&Turkcoat Congress, which is an efficient example of the synergy of science with industrial practices, made a significant contribution to the development of the paint industry.
Organized in two halls as Turkcoat and paintistanbul at Green Park Pendik Hotel, the program included five keynote speeches, twelve sessions, four commercial presentations and one panel discussion. The congress program commenced with a keynote speech by Mustafa Tunçgenç from Eva Consultancy in Training and Research.
He spoke on the “History and Present of the Turkish Paint Industry,” sharing valuable insights as a keynote speaker. Paint and chemical industry professionals followed the sessions, presentations and speeches with great interest. Participants and visitors also had the opportunity to examine the 49 poster papers exhibited in the poster presentation area.
Field Expert Academics Delivered Speeches as Invited Speakers
Distinguished academics also delivered speeches at the congress for two days. On the first day of the congress, Prof. Dr. Yusuf Menceloğlu, Board Member of Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, made an extremely important presentation on the topic “Can Radiative Cold Coatings Combat Climate Change?”. On the second day, Prof. Dr. Nergis Arsu, Faculty Member of Yıldız Technical University and Prof. Dr. İskender Yılgör, Faculty Member of Koç University, took part in the program as invited speakers.
Importance of Sustainability, Innovation and R&D
The second day of the program, which was extremely intense with sessions and presentations, also included a panel discussion moderated by Hasan Şerefhan, Technical Factory Director of DYO Construction Paints. The panel discussion included leading executives and experts from the industry.
In the panel discussion titled “Sustainable Innovative Approaches in the Paint Industry”, Ersin Kenan Kayalar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kayalar Kimya; Mutlu Uysal, General Manager of DYO Paint Factories; Tolga Demirözü, Managing Director of BASF Türk and Country Cluster Head Turkey & Azerbaijan & Georgia; Prof. Dr. Yusuf Menceloğlu, Board Member of Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, and Dr. Engin Çörüşlü, Founding Partner of Eva Consultancy, evaluated the future of the paint industry in all aspects.
Giving information about the current volume of the global paint market, Şerefhan emphasized that the Turkish Paint Industry, with its production quality at international standards, deserves to receive much more than the 2% share it currently receives in the global paint market. Şerefhan stated that it is the duty of the paint industry actors in our country to increase this share.
Stating that BASF’s motto in 2014 was “We Create Chemistry for a Sustainable Future”, Mr. Tolga Demirözü, Managing Director of BASF Türk and Country Cluster Head Turkey & Azerbaijan & Georgia, shared his insights into the projects and investments they have realized in the field of sustainability.
Dr. Engin Çörüşlü, the Founding Partner of Eva Consultancy, provided valuable insights on the pivotal role and impact of R&D activities within the paint industry. He emphasized that in today’s business landscape, companies neglecting the significance of R&D activities face significant challenges in terms of survival.
Mutlu Uysal, General Manager of DYO Paint Factories, stated that by employing different disciplines in R&D centers and fostering communication and collaboration between them, they can enable the generation of much more different new ideas. Mr. Uysal also gave information about the innovative products they have developed.
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Menceloğlu, Member of the Board of Directors of Sabancı University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, compared the R&D activities in Turkey with those abroad in terms of quality and quantity, and emphasized the need for Turkey to enhance its endeavors in this field.
Menceloğlu stated that the chemical industry in Turkey needs more personnel, especially at doctoral level, and more financial resources. Drawing attention to the need for the Turkish paint industry to be more active in terms of exports, Ersin Kenan Kayalar, Chairman of the Board of Kayalar Kimya, emphasized the critical importance of promptly adhering to global regulations, particularly in the context of sales to developed countries.
Kayalar said that he believes that the Turkish paint industry has the capacity to increase its influence in the world paint market by developing new products and technologies.
Congress Concluded with a Record Number of Attendance
The paintistanbul & Turkcoat Congress, which kept the pulse of the paint industry with exhibitors and visitors from Turkey and abroad for two days, ended with a record number of attendance. The congress, which will be organized every two years, will continue to shed light on the future of the paint industry.
