Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

In his speech here, Hisarcıklıoğlu noted that it is coming together to increase the use of domestic products in the telecom sector and to communicate and cooperate effectively with SMEs that can participate in Vodafone Turkey's supply chain.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they aimed to contribute to the formation of the 5G ecosystem and the localization of these technologies with this meeting.

Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that SMEs will conduct online meetings with Vodafone's relevant supplier specialists in the virtual meeting rooms to be opened within the scope of the organization.

“Thus, we will pave the way for our SMEs to become suppliers to Vodafone. If they can't, we'll make sure they're ready to become suppliers. In this preparation phase, under the leadership of our Minister of Industry and Technology, we will work to help them benefit from KOSGEB support. We will also benefit from the work of our Minister of Transport and Infrastructure for domestic and national production. In summary, we will not leave our SMEs alone during the production of new technologies, we will direct them to take advantage of all the possibilities of our state.”

- “We have organized many information webinars on R&D supports”

Hisarcıklıoğlu advised SMEs who want to become suppliers and said:

“Use our government's R&D support to bring the technology you have developed to the standards demanded by Vodafone. We have organized many information webinars on R&D supports since the beginning of the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. You can learn how to take advantage of these supports by watching them on our YouTube channel.

There are not only government supports for R&D, but also EU support such as 'Horizon Europe' and 'Ufuk2020'. Consider these mechanisms when developing your technologies. At the end of the year, we will see the good results of Vodafone's supply from our SMEs participating in this meeting.”

- “In 2020, we issued more than 15,000 domestic goods certificates”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said the number of capacity reports in the TOBB Industrial Database exceeded 79,000 in 2020, up 5 percent compared to the previous year.

Hisarcıklıoğlu, who shared the information that there was a 10 percent increase in the number of capacity reports in high-tech products and 9 percent in the number of medium/high-tech capacity reports, said, “With the support of our Ministry of Industry and Technology, we issued more than 15,000 domestic goods certificates in 2020, up 7 percent compared to the previous year. When we look at the technology levels of the products here, the number of domestic goods certificates in high-tech products increased by 18 percent compared to last year and the number of medium/high-tech documents increased by 12 percent. We were especially pleased with this development in high-tech products.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that they have been working with many organizations in terms of supplier development and noted:

“Our work includes large enterprises such as Vodafone, as well as organizations such as the European Nuclear Research Center (CERN) and Akkuyu nuclear power plant, one of the important projects of our country. There is a point here that we especially want to draw the attention of our SMEs to: The companies we work with here are those who have the capacity report and domestic goods certificate in the TOBB Industry Database. Therefore, if you want to take part in these efforts, I recommend that you take an industrial capacity report and get your domestic goods document regarding the technologies you develop. In this way, it will be easier for us to communicate with you and include you in these studies.”

- Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu said they will continue to work hand in hand with SMEs in Turkey's transition to the 5G system.

Karaismailoğlu said that domestic production in technology is the number one agenda item of the public and private sectors in Turkey, in a speech at the “Domestic Production in Technology and the Power of SMEs” event organized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and Vodafone Turkey.

Minister Karaismailoğlu stated that until 18 years ago, a lot of time was lost as a “country that relied on those who could not succeed”, adding: “We have not had the courage to research, develop and produce for generations. Today, we are ready to take advantage of the opportunities that come our way. In order to be ready for these opportunities, we have worked for 18 years to compensate for the time lost before us in almost every field, to eliminate deficiencies, to contact every neglected point.”

Karaismailoğlu stated that they will continue to walk this path with determination, noting that Turkey has captured or even exceeded the developed world in transport and communication, education, health, defense, tourism and many other areas.

Karaismailoğlu said that the focus of SMEs, start-ups, established organizations, universities and scientific institutions on producing domestic and national technologies will reshape the country's destiny, and that as a ministry, they have brought domestic and nationality to the forefront in the field of information, communication and communication as well as transportation. “We aimed to increase the R&D share in technology to the level of EU countries in 2023 and above the average of OECD countries in 2028,” Karaismailoğlu said.

- Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank

Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank said that global technology giants can make decisions like a separate state apparatus, adding, “In the world of technology, universal values, justice, the fight against extremes, self-control and accountability need to be established. A similar colonial order established by the winners of the First Industrial Revolution is now in the 4^th world. We must prevent it from occurring in the Industrial and Technology Revolution,” he said.

Minister Varank, speaking at the “Power of Domestic Production and SMEs in Technology Webinar” organized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and Vodafone, said that Vodafone's statement to meet the need for technology infrastructure and consumables from domestic enterprises with SME status offers important opportunities for domestic producers in the IT sector.

Noting that what large-scale enterprises and SME-status start-ups can do when they come together is seen in the process of combating the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Varank said that they attach importance to “SMEs” and “domestic production in technology”.

Varank reported that 998 out of every 1,000 businesses in Turkey are SMEs, about half of the manpower in R&D is employed in SMEs, and SMEs make up the majority of start-ups.

Varank stated that the ministry and related organizations offer all their facilities to the service of SMEs:

“Last week, the Turkish Statistical Institute published its SME Statistics Report. According to the report, there is a very strong positive correlation between the company scale and the added value per employee. This data gives us the following message: We must mobilize the growth potential of our successful SMEs in order to increase the average employee productivity in our country. This is possible not through unilateral efforts of the state or businesses, but with the model of doing business together.”

- Vodafone Turkey Senior Manager (CEO) Engin Aksoy

Vodafone Turkey Senior Manager (CEO) Engin Aksoy said, “Our company has prioritized domestic product purchase with changes to purchasing procedures. In this context, we will take affirmative action for domestic producers,” he said.

Talking about Vodafone Turkey's priorities for SMEs and domestic production, Aksoy said that they see the promotion of domestic production as one of their priorities. Stating that they continue to communicate and cooperate effectively with SMEs that can participate in the supply chain in their investments, Aksoy said, “In accordance with our 4.5G investment obligation, we try to provide our investments from domestic products documented products and products produced by SME-type suppliers established to develop products or systems in Turkey. Despite the steps taken, we still see that not enough supply has been formed. In the domestic technology ecosystem, there is a need for capacity and incentives to produce different infrastructure components, especially software.”

- Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Ömer Fatih Sayan

Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Ömer Fatih Sayan announced that the first phase of the End-to-End Domestic and National 5G Communication Network Project, conducted by companies and mobile operators of the Communication Technologies Cluster (HTK), will be completed in the first quarter of the year.

Sayan spoke at the “Power of Domestic Production and SMEs in Technology” event organized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and Vodafone Turkey and attended by Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu.