KAHRAMANMARAS TICARET VE SANAYI ODASI

Their core work

Kahramanmaras Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a regional trade body in southeastern Turkey that supports local SMEs in accessing European innovation networks and funding opportunities. Their core H2020 involvement has been through the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), where they act as a local relay for innovation support services — helping businesses connect with EU partners, navigate the SME Instrument, and adopt innovation management practices. They serve as a bridge between the Turkish business community in the Kahramanmaras region and the broader European innovation ecosystem.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2015-2018), the chamber focused squarely on key account management and SME Instrument support — essentially helping local businesses apply for EU funding and managing client relationships within the EEN framework. From 2019 onward, the language shifted toward broader innovation management, suggesting a move from transactional funding support to more strategic advisory services. The change is modest but consistent: from helping SMEs fill out applications to helping them build innovation capacity.

Moving from transactional EU funding brokerage toward broader innovation management services for regional SMEs, particularly in the energy sector.

How they like to work

Kahramanmaras Chamber has participated exclusively as a partner, never as a coordinator — typical for a regional chamber operating within a larger EEN consortium structure. They have worked with only 4 unique partners across a single country, suggesting they are embedded in a stable, recurring consortium rather than building a wide network. Working with them means engaging a reliable local relay with deep roots in the Turkish East Mediterranean business community, but limited experience managing multi-partner EU projects independently.

Very narrow network: 4 consortium partners, all within a single country. This reflects their role as a regional node in the EEN East Mediterranean network rather than an independent EU collaboration hub.

What sets them apart

Their value lies in being the institutional gateway to the Kahramanmaras business community in southeastern Turkey — a region with significant SME activity in energy and manufacturing that is otherwise difficult for European partners to access. For any consortium needing a credible Turkish regional partner with established relationships to local industry, especially energy-sector SMEs, this chamber offers ready-made infrastructure. They are not a research organization; their contribution is market access, local business intelligence, and SME mobilization.

Highlights from their portfolio

• InnoSuppEastMed
  Sustained participation across four consecutive phases (2015-2021) demonstrates long-term commitment and institutional continuity in East Mediterranean innovation support.
• InnosuppEastMed (2020-2021)
  The latest phase shows evolution from basic SME Instrument support to broader innovation management, indicating growing organizational capability.