ELA Annual Conference and General Assembly was held in Istanbul

ELA Annual Conference and General Assembly was held in 16-17, May in Istanbul

At the begining of the conference Luca Pezzini, Secretary General of ELA stated

“Dear guests, speakers, ladies and gentelmen, good morning to everyone

So after last years conference in lucerne safety and maintenance we can finally meet again all together in this wonderful location.

Thanks to our member, AYSAD.

It is definitely a great pleasure to be here with you today and we have a lot.

So welcome to this event, promoted by the European lift Association for which I am proud to be the secretary general.

And then Roberto Zappa who came to the stage ELA President made an opening speech:

Thank you all of you for being here with us again as president of the European Lift Association.

I’m really delighted to be here with you again on our let me say 26th anniversary.

Last year we celebrated in Lucerne.

A nice target our 25 year of existence.

And so much has passed through the bridges that connect us with industry.

Like the bridges connecting Europe and Asia and this beautiful and full of history city.

So once again, I’m really happy to have the honor of being here with you.

We are a European Association therefore we bring the testimony of the representation that this year we have extended also to the European delegation in Turkey.

I hope I’m spelling rightly now, so let me allow to thank Mr. Dominik Olewinski.

The upcoming European elections which will be also ih theree weeks time we renew 705 members of European parliament.

And for this reason reperesenting at the end of the day also 450 million people in Europe.

And for this reason that we have decided not to involve parliamentary people from Europa given the exchange that is going to happen shortly.

Mrs. Hatice Sozer Who’s epresenting University of Istanbul she’s highly respected and prepared professor who will introduce usto the topic of the day.

As you can see on the screen, transition toward the sustainability with a particular reference to implications to the construction sector.

Of course, I don’t want to miss thanking all the reperesentatives of ELA here in this room, from the organization organizers to the committees and working group members who always been very active and helpful at ELA and very grateful for them and their contribution.

AYSAD Chairman of the Board of Directors Oğuzhan Bulgurluoğlu said in his speech: “We are in a very beautiful city. I hope you liked it too. We are very happy to host the general assembly of the European Elevator Association and its conference, which includes an important topic titled “Sustainability”. AYSAD is a 52-year-old sectoral non-governmental organization and ELA, of which we are a member, is 26 years old. I think the density of elevator business in Istanbul is one of the few points that is much more advanced than in Europe. Of course, unlike economy, democracy or football.
There will be an important two-day event in Istanbul today and tomorrow. Before continuing, I would like to express my appreciation to ELA’s President, Mr. Zappa. It was a major impetus for studies on the elevator industry. I would like to thank Mr. Zappa for his cooperation and contributions with us. I hope that the meeting in Istanbul in these two days will lead to satisfying discussions, valuable connections and unforgettable experiences. As I welcome you back to Istanbul, I invite you to take a journey on “sustainability” in Istanbul with its rich history. “I thank you all for being here,” he said.

After the speech, AYSAD President Oğuzhan Bulgurluoğlu, former president Sefa Targıt and board member Savaşal Sayın presented a plaque of appreciation to ELA President Roberto Zappa.

After that Dominik Olewinski who came from Ankara President of Trade and Economy of EU Delegation made a speech:

Distinguished guests, members of the European lift Association, including also the members of the lead of the Turkish member organization.
ladies and gentelman, I’m very pleased to be here.
Thank You Luca, for the invitation.
Unfortunately, I’m not based here in this beautiful city.
I come from Ankara, but it’s not a long way to come in here.
Especially for a subject like you have today which is the sustainability.

So let me offer a few remarks from the perspective of the EU and as well from the perspective of the EU delefation in Ankara on the subject.
I hope it will help you with your discussion.
As you know, green and digital transition, sustainability, circularity or energy and efficiency have been for a very long time already.
At least in the last decade, high on the agenda of both european and turkish businss communuties as we both started facing the negative impacts of the climate change.
Now this interest and the momentum has accelerated.
And I beleive this happened both in the EU and definitely you and us well in Turkey when the European Green Deal was adopted in 2019.

I suppose the european stakeholders present in here, but as well, I’m sure that the turkish ones are very much aware of the European Green Deal.
And it is strategy that goes well beyond the classic environmental or energy policies.
This is a for the EU at least, this is a new growth model.
However, we know, we all watch news, we read newspapers, we know that the geopolitical situation developments are not going very.
Well, to say the least, and that makes as well the implementation of European Green deal challenging.

So the key indicators like energy consumpiton, energy use, global greenhouse gas emissions are not very promising.
They were supposed to be going down globally.
We know that this is being challenging, but we need to keep objective, we need to strive for achieving this objective of addressing the climate change.
And as well, we have this tracing signal to remind us that is still very important because last year, 2023 was the warmest year on record.
And as well, it was the year that the global temperature has for the first time reached 1.5 celcius degrees above the pre ihdustrial levels.

So you may know that this is the important thresold that was set by the global policymakers and when addressing the climate change challenge, now, this is the situation and I think it’s clear that it reqires action.
So a transition to a climate neutral and resource efficient economy demands a fundamental shift in technology, in energy, in economics, in fiscal policies, in finance, and ultimately in society as a whole.
And the European Green deal on which I started addresses many aspects of the shift from agriculture to environment, from batteries and chips to packaging and waste.
The strategy has as well several important steps on energy transition and energy efficiency.

And maybe let me just give you two examples and I’ve seen in the agenda you will be discussing them in more detail today.
Of those concrete initiatives, one is the energy performance of buildings directive that was adopted in 2024, which will provide a framework for member states to reduce emissions energy ube in buildings across to the EU, ranging from individual buildings to public buildings, scholls, hospitals, et cetera.

We should know that 40% of emissions in the 40% of energy used in the EU comes from the building, the use of energy in buildings.
And the second very good example is something which is called eco design for sustainable product regulation.
That has been the political agreement was reached in 2023, in December, and this will provide for sustainabilty of all products almost apart from food and processed food products at the same time.

And I think we had a very good reminder of the movie.
We are here in turkey in a very important economic player 19 economy globally, member of G-20 and as well.
We are in Istanbul, a beautiful city.
So maybe let me round it up on a few remarks for you to keep on the importance of sustainability in bilateral relation and on the importance of bilateral relations between the EU and Turkey.
The OPM delegation has been invited by the turkish stakeholders on numerous occasions to attend on Green Deal and Turkish our Turkish counterparts, both public the goverment but as well private sector business.

You are very keen and eager to follow the path converging with the EU on the Green Deal.
The Turkish government has taken numerous actions to address by announcing zero emissions target by 2053, by adopting national Action Plan on green deal.
So Turkey has as well as its action plan on green deal roadmaps in place for decarbonization of sectors like steel, aluminium, cement and there ise as well national emission trading system under preparation.
And we hope as well thet the climate law that is in the National General assembly will be adopted soon and will provide concrete elements for Turkey to address those challenges.
We have as well very important remark on technical legislation thanks to the customs unit between the EU and Turkey.
Turkey has already aligned many of its product legislation, including those on leaves.
So very important for your sector and I’m sure you’re aware of it with the legislation of the EU, Turkey is as well.
Turkey is alse a full member of the European Standardization Organizationb like CEN and CENELEC, and it maintains a very high alignment rate on european standards.
And this should not come as a suprise to you because since almost 30 years, the EU and Turkey are bound by customs union, so there are no customs duties, there are no tarriffs in bilateral exchange between Turkey and the EU.
Exports should flow uninhibited to Turkey and the other rank.
And that’s what we’ve been experiencing over the last 30 years and it has benefited both partners considerably.
Just to give you a figure, last year the Bidata trade has reached 200 billion. Over 200 billion Euro.
Turkey is the fifth EU leader and share smoe of those value chains.
The EU is committed to cooperate in turkey in the decarbonication, in digitalization of its economy.
And we have been providing very important financial contribution to this development in Turkey.
And that’s why as well That’s what I explained in the coffee brake before meeting.
You may not know, but the EU delegation in turkey is the biggest in the world, which reflects the importance of this relationship and as well as the importance of the support that the European Union contributes to the development and sustainability of Turkey.
To close very briefly, the meeting like this and the relationship between the Turkish AYSAD and the European Lift Association and events like this focusing on concrete subjects, that’s something that we very much support.
We believe that and encouraged.
We believe that such cooperation can form a common agenda between the EU and turkish economic players which help to voice the concerns or priorities of those both in the EU, in Brussels, but as well, whether in Istanbul or in Ankara, and as well prepares the businesses for new developments coming from the policyşmakers in the EU and in Turkey.
And I see that the conference that you will have today, the whole day, touches on very on those issues that I’ve been trying to highlight to you.
Energy efficiency, sustainable and smart buildings, equel buildings, digitalization.