ISTANBUL, May 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FL PR and Communications, the London and Istanbul based international public relations and strategic communications agency, attended the Türkiye-Belgium Business Forum held at Swissotel in Istanbul on 11 May 2026, organised as the official opening programme of the Belgian Economic Mission led by Her Majesty Queen Mathilde of Belgium.
Photo: Turkish Minister of Trade Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat via FL Comms
Hosted by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Türkiye (DEİK), the forum convened a senior delegation including Turkish Minister of Trade Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation Maxime Prévot, Belgian Minister of Defence Theo Francken, DEİK President Nail Olpak, Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye Investment and Finance Office President A. Burak Dağlıoğlu, Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB) Honorary President René Branders, Minister-President of the Flemish Government Matthias Diependaele, and DEİK Türkiye-Belgium Business Council Chair Mustafa Akıncılar. The Belgian delegation consisted of 420 business leaders representing more than 200 Belgian companies.
Throughout the programme, the FL PR and Communications team held bilateral business meetings with senior Belgian executives across priority sectors including healthcare, technology, logistics, digitalisation and sustainability. The conversations focused on cross-border strategic communications, international visibility programmes for Turkish brands in Western European and global markets as well as sectoral market entry support.
In his opening address, Minister Bolat noted that bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached 9.3 billion USD in 2025, with both sides committing to a sustainable and balanced target of 15 billion USD. Bolat highlighted defence, energy, logistics, healthcare, life sciences and sustainability as priority areas for deeper cooperation.
Organized 14 years after Belgium’s last Economic Mission to Turkey in 2012, the visit was widely regarded as a milestone in shifting the bilateral relationship beyond trade alone and into investment, technology and joint manufacturing.
Photo: FL PR and Communications Founder Furkan Lüleci via FL Comms
Lüleci: “Cross-border communications is the invisible infrastructure of two-way trade”
Furkan Lüleci, Founder of FL PR and Communications, who represented the agency at the forum, said that improving trade relations between Türkiye and Belgium involves proper communication and managing expectations.
“Behind every strategic sector, from health tourism and defence to logistics and technology, there is a communications infrastructure that either accelerates or slows down the trade flow. With our teams in London and Istanbul, FL PR and Communications continues to act as a bridge that supports the visibility and reputation of Turkish companies in the global market while helping Belgian investors interpret the Türkiye story with the depth it deserves.”
He noted that the B2B conversations the company initiated at the forum will translate into concrete communications and public relations programmes that connect both business communities in the coming period.
Lüleci added that FL PR and Communications’ portfolio across health tourism, technology, hospitality and lifestyle sectors offers a scalable platform supporting Türkiye’s positioning in the global market. The agency’s international communications programmes with leading Turkish healthcare groups, including Acibadem, Medicana, Liv Hospital, Memorial and Erdem Hospital, align directly with the healthcare and life sciences themes that featured prominently in the forum agenda.
About FL PR and Communications
FL PR and Communications is a boutique international public relations and strategic communications agency headquartered in Istanbul with offices in London. The agency specialises in health tourism, technology, hospitality and luxury real estate sectors, serving a portfolio that spans Türkiye’s leading hospital groups and global healthcare brands across international markets. Its integrated service offering covers public relations, crisis communications, media relations, digital visibility and cross-border brand positioning, supported by data driven PR measurement, editorial infrastructure and multilingual production capability.
Media Contact
Cagla Guvelioglu
Global Comms Director
FL PR and Communications
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