Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

In his speech here, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that under the leadership of Nurten Öztürk, TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council President, a very auspicious and much-needed project was created and said that they are very pleased that this project was launched before World Hygiene Day.

Emphasizing that with this project, public and private sectors come together and action is taken to leave a better and cleaner Turkey for citizens and future generations, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “You know, in our belief, cleanliness comes from faith. We grew up with this motto. Indeed, cleanliness is a healthy life, a necessity for a healthy generation. The healthy generation is also the future of the country. We've seen how important this is during the pandemic. On the other hand, thanks to the pandemic, there has been a significant increase in awareness of cleanliness and hygiene in all segments of the public and at all age levels. Here in our Women Entrepreneurs Council, they will respond to this sensitivity in society, they designed this beautiful project just in time and implemented it together with our Ministry of National Education.”

Referring to the industrial aspect of this project, TOBB President continued: “You know, one of the complaints of tradesmen and entrepreneurs, especially in tourism centers, was not being able to reach foreign tourists due to the influence of the all-inclusive system. But part of the reason was our shortcomings in presenting the environment offered in hotels to the same standard outside. The Clean Business Project will support micro-enterprises operating in the field of food and drink, accommodation and transportation in the service sector to stand out and for consumers and especially tourists to choose these places.

This project, which is now launched in 3 pilot provinces with our TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council members, which is one of the largest women entrepreneur networks in the world with 7,000 members in 81 provinces, will then spread to all provinces. I would like to take this opportunity to thank project partners, our TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council, the Ministry of National Education, the General Directorate of Lifelong Learning and OPET, one of the leading companies in our country, to become a brand in terms of hygiene.”

- MEB Lifelong Learning General Manager Büyük

Yusuf Büyük, General Manager of Lifelong Learning at the Ministry of National Education, stated that their mission is to provide high quality education that can be documented and monitored, providing guidance to everyone anywhere at any time during the transformation process into a learning society, supporting the individual to take responsibility for the development of humanity by improving their competencies.

Büyük expressed his satisfaction that the Clean Business Project, which is a new beginning in hygiene, will be implemented with the cooperation of TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council and the support of OPET.

- TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council President Öztürk

TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council President and Founding Member of OPET Board of Directors Nurten Öztürk said that each individual and company, especially public institutions and organizations, have basic duties and responsibilities in protecting and improving public health, improving quality of life, raising healthy generations with adequate training in cleanliness and hygiene.

As OPET, living on the basis of stakeholder participation; seeking solutions to social problems; Öztürk said that they have produced long-term projects and fully supported many projects, “We have given hygiene and cleaning trainings to more than 10 million people since 2000 with the Clean Toilet Campaign we have been carrying out since 2000 in order to create a clean and healthy society. These difficult days with the pandemic once again revealed how important the space-human relationship is in transmission and how necessary hygiene is for every environment."

“Hygiene is a healthy environment where secure cleaning is conducted and should be the first priority for workplace and employee safety in all public living areas, large and small. In our Business Clean Project, we aim to provide clean, hygienic and healthy services to micro enterprises by organizing hygiene trainings for the service sector together with our project partners. We aim to declare a national transformation throughout Turkey. We want to make our hospitality, which is one of the most important values of our country, people and tourism, safer with hygienic rules. By raising awareness in the community, we aim to increase the capacities of micro enterprises and increase their revenues during this challenging period.”

- “Clean Business Project”

The “Clean Business Project”, implemented by the TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council with the goal of creating equal opportunity for the sustainability of micro enterprises by increasing the hygiene capacities of micro enterprises, begins with pilot studies in Izmir, Muğla and Antalya, one of the most vibrant provinces in Turkey in terms of tourism.

Under the leadership of TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council, the “Clean Business Project, which will walk in cooperation with OPET, which has an important experience in this field with the General Directorate of Lifelong Learning of the Ministry of National Education and the Clean Toilet Campaign it has been carrying out for 21 years, is carried out to have clean, hygienic and healthy service enterprises all over Turkey by creating hygiene-oriented training programs for micro enterprises in the service sector.

With the “Business Clean Project,” it is aimed to increase the hygiene capacities of enterprises called micro-enterprises, whose annual employee employment is less than 10 people, and whose annual net sales revenue or financial balance sheet does not exceed 3 million TRY, and to increase their income with the satisfaction they hear about their business.

The project, which will be developed to make a difference for micro enterprises and work within the norms, will create specially structured hygiene-oriented training programs in cooperation with the General Directorate of Lifelong Learning of the Ministry of National Education.

These training programs will be brought together with micro enterprises through MEB's online training platform by the instructors of the Center for Public Education in pilot provinces. In the pilot project launched in Izmir, Antalya and Muğla, where tourism potential is high, we create awareness in the community and become involved in the service sector; micro-enterprises operating in the field of food and drink, accommodation and transportation will be supported to stand out.

The project, which is aimed at reaching a total of 31,500 businesses in three provinces, will continue until the end of June 2022. The project, which will be expanded throughout Turkey after the studies in pilot provinces, will benefit from the experience of OPET, which has taken important steps to create hygiene awareness by reaching more than 10 million people in 21 years with the Clean Toilet Campaign.

- Hygiene training will be given to a total of 31,500 enterprises in three provinces

Within the scope of the project, a total of 18,000, including 6,000 from the food and drink sector in Izmir, 6,000 from the hospitality sector and 6,000 from the transportation sector, 3,000 from the food and drink sector in Antalya, a total of 9,000, including 3,000 from the hospitality sector and 3,000 from the transportation sector, and 1,500 from the food and beverage sector in Muğla, 1.50 from the hospitality sector Hygiene trainings will be organized for a total of 4,500 micro enterprises, including 1,500 from the transport sector and 31,500 micro enterprises in total, to create and operate hygienic conditions that are vital for public health.

With the project where online workshops will be organized for three different areas, the information, attitudes and changes of the target audience will be reported with the researches carried out before and after the applications. People who have completed their training will be entitled to receive the 'Hygiene Training Certificate', while the business will be able to take the “Clean Business Hygiene Training” certificate and display it in the appropriate place of its business. In addition, social impact research will be conducted to measure the impact it has had during the project process. 3 different sector-specific hygiene trainings and other project applications to be developed within the scope of the project will be carried out in the pilot provinces of Izmir, Antalya and Muğla and it is aimed to expand the trainings to all of Turkey through MEB online training platforms thanks to the online training content developed.

- Priority expectations were determined by research

Within the scope of the project, a qualified research was carried out to determine the insights of micro enterprises and micro enterprises in the service sector on cleanliness and hygiene. As a result of the research, it was determined that the need to feel comfortable, peaceful and safe in the environments where the perceptions of hygiene and cleanliness changed with the corona period. It was also seen that the level of hygiene expected by those receiving parallel services from a post-pandemic business gained a high priority compared to before the pandemic. In addition, it was observed that business owners as well as participants who received services developed methods themselves outside of routine measures. 

According to the findings of the research:

•When it comes to cleaning for the hospitality industry, the most important elements are associated with the whiteness of the furnishing and the pleasant smell of the environment; 

•It is compatible with concrete indicators such as staff using bonnets, gloves, equipment, etc. for the café-restaurant sector. 

•For the transportation sector, concrete indicators such as cleanliness of the exterior, pleasant smell of ventilation and environment come to the forefront.

•The common expectation in these 3 sectors, where human traffic is heavy, is again; taking special precautions for surfaces where people come into contact the most (door handles, faucet arms and heads, spices, handles, etc.)

Those who served in the research stated that there is a need to prepare a training program that is structured on the training of personnel and includes implementation recommendations. Micro-business owners, while not knowing their names and contents, emphasized that although they are aware of a number of hygiene certificates, they are not interested due to their busy work tempos. Business owners have announced that they will be interested in the trainings to be offered with MEB certification in the Clean Business project. With these trainings, they shared that it will contribute to raising awareness about how to do the right cleaning and hygiene, increasing and visibility of the business and creating a perception of trust in the consumer mind. While the online education was received positively, it was emphasized that supporting the project by the public and private sectors increased the confidence in the project.