Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that an important step has been taken in regards to ensuring e-commerce sector consolidation, the driving force behind the new economy; he pointed out that sector councils bring the prominent companies of the sector, associations and public institutions together.

“This council works to present agreed upon proposals for solutions to the problems facing the sector to public institutions. The better this council works, the faster e-commerce will develop in Turkey. By working together, you can contribute to the implementation of the right policies as well as the creation of projects which will benefit the sector. The rest is in your hands.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu drew attention to the importance put on the sector by Customs and Commerce Minister Tüfenkci and representatives of the Economy Ministry and Information Technologies and Communications Institute, stating that this is an opportunity which should not be wasted.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that Turkey is only now beginning to embrace e-commerce, “Only 2% of all retail commerce is conducted online while out of every 10 credit cards, only 1.2 has been used to shop online. The share of online commerce in the economies of developed countries is over 10% of all commercial activity. We are behind but we can catch up.”

Pointing out that we are unable to fully utilize the opportunities offered by the internet, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that one of the primary reasons for this is the lack of trust which also negatively impacts development of online commerce.

Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that e-commerce is an important opportunity for Turkish entrepreneurs to open up to foreign markets and that, as a part of the agreement signed with the Chinese government last year, Turkey’s first e-commerce pilot zone will be established in Kayseri and Chongqing, providing basic logistical, customs, financing and organizational solutions.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they also plan to bring the e-WTP, Electronic World Trade Platform to Turkey.

- Customs and Commerce Minister Tüfenkci

Customs and Commerce Minister Bülent Tüfenkci commented that e-commerce is rapidly developing in Turkey, acting as permanent changes to the growth dynamics of the economy.

Reporting that the e-commerce sector has grown by 50% in the last 3 years, Tüfenkci stated that this growth has occurred with the change in marketing strategies.

- E-Commerce Council

The members of the E-Commerce Council are representatives of Turkey’s prominent e-commerce companies, e-commerce regulation bodies and e-commerce associations.

The TOBB E-Commerce Council has been formed to fully represent the sector in the formation of policy to engender development of e-commerce in Turkey.