Deadline for the 1St California Turkish American Business Conference is Imminent! March 29-31 in Santa Clara.

Business Editors

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 20, 2001

The 1st California Turkish American Business conference will be held Thursday through Saturday, March 29 - 31, 2001, at the Hilton Santa Clara, located in the heart of Silicon Valley. Aiming to bring together companies and entrepreneurs interested in doing high-tech business in the U.S. and Turkey, the conference will include presentations on doing business in the U.S. and Turkey, exhibitors with companies from both sides of the Atlantic and a Job Fair - for companies looking to recruit talented individuals.

"This long over-due conference aims to attract business people and especially entrepreneurs from Turkey as well as Silicon Valley to evaluate opportunities for cooperation between businesses in both countries," says Yavuz Atila, President of Turkish American Association of California (TAAC). "TAAC has responded to the need voiced by both business communities to create platforms for knowledge sharing and networking, thus clearing the way for joint business initiatives. The result is this 1st Turkish American Business Forum of California. We are especially excited about the impressive group of speakers that will join us this year."

Representatives from the relative ranks of both governments include: Kursad Tuzmen, Under Secretary of Foreign Trade in Ankara; Dr. Cengiz Ersun, Deputy Secretary General of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce; Former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Mark R. Parris (1997-2000); Miles Denny Brown, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Turkey Desk, Wash., D.C.; Joe Hedges, International Program Manager, San Jose Office of Economic Development; and Bonnie Joy Kaslan, Honorary Consul General of Turkey to San Francisco.

Private sector representatives varying from entrepreneurs to executives from multinational businesses include: Magdalena Yesil, General Partner of USVP (a Venture Capital firm); Ilhan Refioglu, President and CEO of International Microcircuits, Inc.; Ziya Boyacigiller, High-tech Business Consultant & Former V.P. at Maxim Integrated Products; Erhan Aksoy, Co-founder of CodeServ; Ali Kutay, founder of WebLogic and AltoWeb; and Cigdem Acar, Immigration Lawyer, among others.

"As the president of a company doing business in Silicon Valley and having business relations with Turkish companies in Turkey, I can see that this conference offers a great opportunity for business people and entrepreneurs in both countries," says Bulent Celebi, President and CEO of Ubicom, an Internet processor and device networking software company. Mr. Celebi is also a scheduled speaker at the conference.

Silicon Valley company visits, networking sessions, panels and presentations by world class speakers with hands-on experience in doing business in both countries are featured during the three-day conference. There will also be a formal Banquet on Friday night, with classical Turkish musical entertainment provided by Yagmur.

The conference is organized by the Turkish American Association of California (TAAC). TAAC, a California non-profit organization with over 1000 members, was founded in 1975. In the last few years, TAAC has organized four major Turkish Arts and Culture Festivals in San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey with more than 15,000 people participating. In addition, following the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey in 1999, TAAC raised over $670,000 for the earthquake victims. For more information and to register for the Conference, please visit us on the Web at: www.tabcon.org.