Cuneyd Zapsu |
MEMBER
Cuneyd Zapsu was born in Istanbul on November 19, 1956. His mother, Gaye Zapsu, moved to Munich with her children Aziz and Cuneyd, after their father Mustafa Pertev Zapsu settled there in 1960. From age 4 to the end of his elementary school, Zapsu lived in Germany. When his father moved back to Istanbul, Zapsu and his two years older brother in 1967 enrolled at the Istanbul German High School where they remained until graduation. Zapsu is fluent in German and English. He continued his higher education at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Business Administration, then went on to study Economics at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. During this period, Zapsu and his brother made forays into the business world by reviving the textile company founded by his father and also importing Turkish hazelnuts into Germany. Not long after becoming an entrepreneur, his father persuaded Zapsu to return to Turkey and continue his business there. In Turkey, the Zapsu’s founded Balsu Gida, the leading company in the hazelnut industry, and in 1986 when he joined TUSIAD he was heralded as its youngest member.
By joining the World Economic Forum in 1992, he further expanded his relations within the international platform. Ever pressing forward, Zapsu became the co-founder and president of the Hazelnut Promotion Group, which became famous for its “Aganigi Naganigi” ad campaign created by Ali Taran. In later years he took a break from the business world to enter politics to serve as Chairman’s Special Advisor and Data Coordinator in the political party which he co-founded: the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). During this period, he made significant contributions to the democratisation and globalisation of the Turkish Republic.
In March 2008, Zapsu resigned from all of his political duties and established Cuneyd Zapsu Consulting Inc. which provides global elite clientele with pragmatic and sustainable business solutions to ventures. Along with his consultancy work, Zapsu is still the Chairman of the Board of Balsu and is involved in various private investments and charity works. In 2008, he co-founded Genc Hayat Vakfi with his family to provide children and young people aged 11-18 access to education and prevent child labor.
CONTACT
