Eczacıbaşı  Eczacıbaşı Holding is a Turkish industrial group of companies founded in 1942. The group with 41 companies has 12,500 employees and a combined net turnover of 11.6 billion in 2017. Eczacıbaşı's core sectors are building products, pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Additionally, the group is active in finance, information technology, welding technology and real estate. Eczacıbaşı has distribution networks for pharmaceuticals, building products and fast-moving consumer goods. Internationally, Eczacıbaşı is known for its flagship VitrA brand, a contender in global bathroom and tile markets. It is also an exporter of tissue paper, pharmaceuticals, welding electrodes, electronic smart cards and industrial raw materials such as clay and feldspar. International partnership is a central component of the Eczacıbaşı Group's growth strategy. Eczacıbaşı has four international joint ventures and numerous cooperation agreements with international companies. Nejat Eczacıbaşı (1913–1993), the founder of the Eczacıbaşı Group, used to say that "the real measure of private entrepreneurship is the success with which it increases the wealth of the community as a whole". Süleyman Ferit Eczacıbaşı was the first university-educated pharmacist in the city of Izmir and had a long career of public service during the early years of the Turkish Republic. Established in 1966, the Eczacıbaşı Sports Club trained many of Turkey's best sportsmen and women in the fields of basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and table tennis before focusing its resources exclusively on women's volleyball in the early 1990s. During this period, the Club won 13 National Championships in table tennis, eight National Championships in men's basketball, 12 National Championships in men's volleyball, and three National Championships in chess. Since 1968, the women's volleyball team has won 27 National Championships, seven National Cups and played in eight European Cup Finals, winning the “European Cup Winner’s Cup” in 1999. In addition to its A-team, the Club has three junior teams that have contributed players over the years to the A team, other first division teams and the Turkish National Volleyball Team. Eczacıbaşı Scientific Research and Medical Award Fund  The Eczacıbaşı Group established this fund in 1959 to promote high caliber medical research. The fund has supported 171 medical research projects and presented 65 awards to Turkish scientists for research in health and medicine.