The Kick-off Ceremony of the "OIC International Internship Program (OIC Intern)" was held on 16 November 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey with the participation of the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Hakan Çavuşoğlu and the Turkey's National Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz.

On this occasion H.E. Amb. Musa Kulaklıkaya, Director General of SESRIC, addressed the gathering where he highlighted that “the program will incite the mobility between our member countries and will make it easier for the students in our member countries to integrate with local business cultures. Thus, economic, political, technological and cultural solidarity will be able to balance the power of the Islamic world to the world.”

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Hakan Çavuşoğlu in his address to the ceremony stated that “there is a great potential for cooperation among the member countries, especially economic and commercial relations. Mobilization of goods and services as well as mobilization of human resources is a very important factor for the evaluation and development of this potential. In this context, we especially emphasize increasing the opportunities we offer for our young people who strive for more qualified education.”

Turkey's National Education Minister H.E. İsmet Yılmaz also addressed the Ceremony where he underlined that in this programme there will be an education in both sides, for the companies and students. He said "in this program there is exchange of knowledge and experience, and the greatest contribution to a human being is to contribute to his education.”

OIC Intern aims at facilitating the entry of students into the labour market by contributing to the development of their knowledge and skills about the working environment. The Program is expected to enhance the quality of the workforce and encourage economic competition in member countries, and thus lay the groundwork for closer cooperation and partnership. 

The pilot of the program will be implemented in Turkey in collaboration with Turkish Chambers and Bourses Association (TOBB), International Citizens and Relative Communities Presidency (YTB), and Ensar Foundation. Following the pilot, OIC Intern will be expanded to other OIC countries targeting a larger community of students from abroad and generating a network of young professionals and workers with strong cultural background.

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