Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Attending the opening of Facebook Station were TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Africa, Middle East and Turkey Facebook Regional Director Ari Keşişoğlu, Facebook Public Policy EMEA Director of Ebele Okobi, Habitat Association President Sezai Hazır as well as a large number of guests.

- “We follow every development in the digital world”

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, pointing out that 93% of Turkey's population uses mobile devices in his speech at the opening, said, “63% is on social media. We are among the countries which has the highest use of social media in the world. We know and follow every development in the digital world. But we use all these technologies not to improve our business, but mostly for idle chatter.

We want to reverse this and move entrepreneurs and SMEs to the digital environment for business.

Because that is where the world is headed. Now everyone is shifting their business, trade, social life into the virtual environment.”

Pointing out that the world's population is approximately 7.7 billion people, Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that 5.1 billion people are mobile device users, 4.4 billion people are internet users and 3.5 billion people are social media users. Stating that all these numbers continue to grow every year much faster than the world's population growth rate, TOBB President said, “In Europe and America, 95% of the population has access to the internet. On average, 6 hours a day are spent on the internet. We need to adapt before we miss this change. We reach the whole world at the touch of a button. As our national poet Mehmet Akif says: Those who come from behind, crush the sleepers on the road. There is no right to life for those who stand still. Humanity does not stop. You'll get crushed if you stop. Here at TOBB the goal which we are working towards is the digitization of the private sector and the development of next-gen entrepreneurship.”

- TOBB producing projects with global technology giants

Underlining that they are producing projects with the world's largest global technology companies, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that, with Turkcell, they’ve undertaken the Women Writing the Future project and provided coding education to 1,800 women. Hisarcıklıoğlu said: “You have no doubt watched the advertisement of sugar engineer Zeynep on TV. Together with Coca-Cola, we offer technology and entrepreneurship training to 9,000 women in 30 cities. We are leading the digital transformation of our SMEs with Vodafone. We implemented She Means Business Project with Facebook. We provided digital marketing training to 5,000 women in 20 provinces. We provided training on how sell goods through social media platforms. Again, we cooperated with Facebook for this facility. Why Facebook? Because Facebook is the world's largest social platform with more than 2.4 billion users. In 2019, the number of users increased by 200 million. Increasing by 2.5 times the population of Turkey in just 1 year. There are currently 80 million SMEs worldwide. So Facebook is also a good opportunity for B-2-B and B-2-C access. As TOBB, we want our entrepreneurs to use this giant platform better. There is everything that new generation entrepreneurs need. Facebook Station offers great opportunities to reach information and customers and establish a network. This place will also facilitate our establishments in opening up to global markets.

It will host workshops on digital media. Our entrepreneurs as well as everyone who so desires it will be trained here in many areas, from cyber security to social media use and blockchain. They will learn about the tools developed by Facebook and improve their business. It will also contribute to employment by providing support to jobseekers. Job Opportunities on Facebook will help our young people find jobs.”

- Facebook Station will not only serve Istanbul

Stating that Facebook Station will not only provided its services in Istanbul, Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that there will be satellite centers opened in Gaziantep, Denizli, Samsun, Antalya, Diyarbakir, Izmir, Ankara and Kayseri, hosted by their Chambers. TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that TOBB Turkey Young Entrepreneurs Council is the largest organization in its field and with it, the impact of Station will spread throughout Anatolia to reach more than 35,000 people and companies with Facebook Station within the year.

Stating that they have started the programs and successfully completed the first digitization training for SMEs in Istanbul, Hisarckılıoğlu said, “The Station's programs are open to everyone. And most importantly, all activities here are free. Training sessions and events will be organized by Facebook and its partners. It will also be open to people and organizations who want to organize their own activities. I would like to thank Facebook Turkey managers for their contribution at this important investment in our country. I hope the Facebook Station will be beneficial for our country, our entrepreneurs and all our citizens.”

In his speech, TOBB Young Entrepreneurs Board President Ali Sabancı thanked those who contributed to the project. Pointing out that there is a constant change in the world, Sabancı said that innovation is a must. Stating that there is not always an easy environment for entrepreneurship, Sabancı said, “Let's stop complaining and take action.”

US Turkey Consul General Daria Darnell also congratulated for those who contributed to the project and shared her evaluations regarding the project.