Turkey, Germany seek stronger cooperation on AI

Business experts, researchers and academics from Turkey and Germany will gather in Berlin to discuss cooperation opportunities on artificial intelligence (AI) and industry 4.0.

The one-day business conference on Aug. 22 will set the scene for exchange between academia and key business figures in Germany and Turkey.

"AI is an area where German and Turkish businesses could work together in the future," Oliver Witkee, Germany's parliamentary state secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, told Anadolu Agency.

Witkee recalled that EU heavyweight Germany remains Turkey's main economic and trade partner.

Citing that both countries have great potential for bilateral cooperation, Witkee said the collaboration can continue in the area of digital transformation.

"AI is an area where German and Turkish businesses could work together in the future," he said.

In order to harness the potential and increase German companies' investment in Turkey, the Turkish government needs to take concrete steps, he added.

Şahin Albayrak, an academic from Berlin University, stressed the importance for Turkey to apply AI in various sectors.

"To quickly catch up with the advanced countries, Turkey must establish strong ties with them for application of AI in various domains," he said.

Reiterating that both countries had started to adjust their market position by coupling AI to their products and services, he said the conference with take the move further.

Due to breakthrough technologies in the automobile industry and AI coming from China and the United States in recent years, Germany wants to focus on the investments in those areas.

The German government decided last year to allocate more than €3 billion for AI and create a team of 100 professors by 2025 to develop systems.