AER continues to foster the dialogue and cooperation with Turkish partners both at political and economic level. DEIK – the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey has been welcomed at AER Brussels Office by the AER President Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli together with H.R.H. Prince Laurent of Belgium, her special advisor, AER Secretary General as well as representatives of the Executive Board.

This first meeting has been an occasion to introduce both organisations and to explore several fields of cooperation, being DEIK responsible for leading foreign economic relations of Turkish private sector and for exploring inward and outward investment opportunities, and being AER the largest independent network of regional authorities in wider Europe.

Environment, renewable energies, energy-efficient constructions were identified as areas of mutual interest to join forces and to develop projects and initiatives.  Linked to this AER got the opportunity to talk about  “100 solutions projects campaign” being the European partner chosen by R20 and Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation as part of a big worldwide initiative aimed at financing green projects.

The Renewable Energies House (REH) that hosts AER Brussels Office has been the perfect setting for this meeting, according to the spirt and attention to the green and sustainable aspects that animates both AER and DEIK. H.R.H. Prince Laurent of Belgium proudly showed to DEIK the functioning of the REH which is a unique example of building that obtains its complete heating and cooling requirements entirely from renewable energy sources, using a combination of solid biomass, solar thermal and geothermal energy.