Rönesans Holding | UEZ - Sorumlu ve Duyarlı Liderlik - İpek Ilıcak Kayaalp

First of all, I want to welcome everyone. It is a pleasure to be here with valuable participants and your moderation. I think many systems in the world will fundamentally change in the coming period: the financial system after the pandemic, the health system, especially the education system. I see that today's young people are much more questioning, sensitive, and equipped. Therefore, as you said, companies cannot exist solely for profit because future generations care deeply about these issues. The increase in my responsibilities at the company coincided with changes in the business ecosystem, which was a great opportunity because it aligns with my values and outlook on life. Having a vision for environmental sustainability is very important. In my 24-year career, I experienced this most last year. We are a construction and investment company, building industrial facilities, commercial areas, and high-rise buildings, not much residential. In the earthquake region, we had over 200 buildings. For example, our Maraş shopping center was right next to the fault line and became a coordination center, standing strong. Adana City Hospital was designed so doctors could continue surgery; it was the only hospital standing in the region. Elazığ City Hospital also served as a coordination center in both the 2020 and 2023 earthquakes. The reason is that we have an 80-person earthquake engineering group with a leader, and no building can operate without their static signature. We operate in 30 countries. If we only pursued profit, we wouldn't have survived this period. Being a responsible leader is not just doing your job right; it's a holistic concept. From my own story: construction is a male-dominated sector, and I am a female executive. I wanted to work on women's employment and empowerment. In 2016, we signed the UN Women's Empowerment Principles. We developed projects in all business processes. Currently, there are three women on the holding board. In our publicly traded company, we have a target to increase the ratio to 50% in all companies. In health, with IBRD, in 2022 we received an award for gender equality and economic inclusion. After the earthquake, we built a container city and designed social spaces for women with UNICEF. So far, 600 women have received 5,000 hours of psychosocial support. This year we continued with UNFPA as safe spaces for women. My second focus is education. We have an education foundation founded by my father, chaired by my sister-in-law Cale Hanım. I am a board member. We have given scholarships to 12,000 students. Criteria include participation in social responsibility projects and completing certain trainings. In 2015, we started a competition called 'Design a Sustainable Future' for architecture and engineering students on green buildings and sustainable projects. It became very popular, reaching 100,000 students. I also founded my own foundation in 2020 called 'Bir Adım Var' (One Step), focusing on female students. We started with a few, now 120 students. I learn from them through direct contact. The foundation covers science, art, sports, and technology. My position in the company and my work on education and women have changed my perspective, judgments, and acceptance. I have transformed a lot, and it has been very beneficial. I feel very lucky.

We were founded abroad in 1993, and later in the 2010s we came to Turkey. During this period, we provided construction services entirely to European and American clients. Being a global company, we now operate in 30 countries. The most important factors for a company's progress in sustainability are customers, creditors, and ever-increasing regulations. We have seen all these developments in these markets. The second important factor is foreign partnerships. We have many foreign partnerships; we joke that we are like the United Nations. We have a partnership with IC since 2015, and since then we have been reporting on waste management, water usage, and sustainability. Today, in our publicly traded company, we have a partnership with Singapore's GIC for 11 years. All our 12 shopping malls receive LEED and BREEAM certifications for energy efficiency and sustainable building. In healthcare, we have 7 city hospitals that we built and operate, all with LEED certifications. With the French investment fund, and under that with Japanese Sojitz and Korean Samsung, last year Total Renewables bought a percentage of our energy company. We received an ESG rating, and this year we will get one for the holding. These foreign partnerships have greatly developed us. Foreign financing: we have made $8 billion in investments in Turkey, 70% of which is foreign financing. They first ask for ESG reports, which are much more comprehensive than EHS reports. We work with about 40 different banks. Our company acquired in Europe in 2015 is very advanced in sustainability; they aim for carbon neutrality by 2040, ahead of many countries. For example, all vehicles and machinery are electric, all production points generate 100% green energy. We have a goal called 'green construction site' to build a site with fully recyclable materials by 2030. We brought the head of sustainability there onto the holding board to learn from them. In short, foreign partnerships, foreign financing, and being a global company have taught us a lot. Recently, we want to be a leader in sustainability in our own work. We now have 52,000 employees. The reason we have reached this point is not that we are at this point and don't need to be sensitive; we reached this point because we are a sensitive company, and I think we can grow this way with these partnerships.