Merhaba!
It is a pleasure to be here today at the opening of Prometric Turkey together with officials from the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education, chair of the Turkish Human Resources Management Association, as well as administrators from Turkish universities and high schools.
I’d like to thank Jerry Young and Gökyar Karşit for your invitation to join you in the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Over 1,400 small, medium and large U.S. firms have offices in Turkey. I am delighted to have Prometric Testing Services join this group of American companies that are creating local jobs, bringing innovation to the economy and contributing to the U.S. Turkey trade and investments relationship.
Prometric Testing Services has chosen Istanbul to be one of its major regional testing centers. The scope of these services is truly impressive. The Istanbul Office will administer over 500 tests, and it will not only serve Turkey, but also area countries in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Northern Africa and the Turkic Republics. In fact, I have been informed that the Istanbul Office testing services have been fully booked for all of 2015 with students as far away as Malaysia. Due to the huge demand a second office is scheduled to open in September 2015. Bravo!
The demand for Prometrics services should not come as a surprise, as the right testing program is critical for success – whether you’re seeking the best candidates, operating a certification program, or licensing professionals. These testing services are relatively new to Turkey and I am confident that they will have a positive impact on Turkey and the region.
Speaking of positive impact, I would like to point out that the U.S. Mission in Turkey is very active in helping Turkish and U.S. businesses connect with each other. Manoj Desai and Perim Akgüner are here with me today and would be happy to talk to you further on this subject.
Congratulations to Prometric Testing Services in establishing their first Turkish office and I wish them great success.
