MERSIN TICARET VE SANAYI ODASI

Their core work

Mersin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MTSO) is a public business support organization in southern Turkey that acts as a regional node of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). Their core function is helping local SMEs access EU innovation support services, including guidance on the SME Instrument and key account management for companies seeking international R&D partnerships. They also engage in public science outreach, having organized a European Researchers' Night event in Mersin.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2015-2018), MTSO focused narrowly on SME Instrument coaching and key account management — essentially helping local companies navigate a specific EU funding tool. From 2019 onward, their keywords broadened to include general innovation management and public science engagement (the Researchers' Night), signaling a shift from a single-program support desk toward a wider regional innovation intermediary role. The addition of science outreach suggests growing ambition to connect the research and business communities in the Mersin region.

MTSO is evolving from a narrow EU funding advisor into a broader regional innovation hub bridging science and business in southeastern Turkey.

How they like to work

MTSO has never coordinated a project — they consistently join as a participant in networks led by others, which is typical for regional chambers of commerce acting as EEN nodes. With 19 unique partners across only 2 countries, they appear embedded in a stable, recurring consortium (the same InnoSuppEastMed network renewed multiple times). Working with them means accessing their regional SME network in southern Turkey rather than expecting them to drive project management.

MTSO has worked with 19 partners concentrated in just 2 countries, reflecting a tight regional EEN consortium in the East Mediterranean. Their network is geographically focused rather than broadly European.

What sets them apart

MTSO is one of the few Turkish chambers of commerce with sustained EEN participation across four consecutive project phases, giving them deep institutional knowledge of EU-Turkey SME matchmaking. For any consortium needing a reliable Turkish partner with direct access to the Mersin region's industrial and SME base, MTSO offers an established gateway. Their combination of business support infrastructure and science outreach experience is unusual for a chamber of commerce in this region.

Highlights from their portfolio

• InnoSuppEastMed
  Renewed four times (2015-2021), demonstrating sustained EU trust in MTSO as the East Mediterranean EEN innovation support node.
• MERSCIN
  The only project where MTSO received direct EC funding (EUR 4,500), organizing an international science night to bring researchers and the public together in Mersin.