Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Answering the questions of Buse Biçer and Merter Özdemir in the program, Hisarcıklıoğlu mentioned TOBB Turkey Technology Meetings and emphasized that there has been a great change in trade today. Explaining that they missed the industrial revolution 200 years ago, Hisarciklıoğlu said, “Now we have a new opportunity. It's called electronic commerce. This is very important for our country, very important for our people. People used to get rich through trade. Silk Road, Spice Road were the best examples of this. Countries and people on trade routes would have prospered back then. Now there are cyber highways on the Internet, this is the new way. The trade route of this era passes through every workplace of every house. You can sell goods to the most remote corner of the world with a button. A $20 trillion market, 7 billion people at the end of the screen, you can reach 7 billion people in an instant.”

Hisarciklıoğlu said that the share of e-commerce in total retail in the world has reached 17%, and that the pandemic has triggered notably. Noting that Turkey is still at the beginning of the road, TOBB President said, “When we look at today, we are far behind the average, but we can close the gap quickly. In order not to miss this train we have to work hard. Turkey has great potential in e-commerce. In fact, Turkey is similar to Western countries in internet connection prevalence, quality and smartphone usage rates. In Turkey, almost 90% of the population has a mobile connection. So, what do we do on the Internet? We chat. While developed countries are producing jobs here, we're sending messages to each other, having discussions about unimportant matters. We are in the top 10 in the world in the number of Facebook users, we are 6^th in the world on Instagram, but when we look at electronic commerce we are not even in the top 25. Developed countries use this medium for trade. We are trying to win arguments.”

Emphasizing that TOBB wants to change this with Vodafone, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We prepare our companies for the digital world. We produce projects to improve digital literacy and the digital infrastructure of our SMEs. We are trying to build the necessary environment to increase the participation of our entrepreneurs in economic life. We bring together successful entrepreneurs and role models with entrepreneur candidates on platforms. This is why we designed our Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey Technology Meetings events. So far, as Merter has just stated, we have organized 77 events in 26 provinces, attendance rose to more than 100,000. I would like to thank you very much for your efforts in these events. Now we have to move our activities to online due to the pandemic. In September last year, we met with nearly 2,000 entrepreneurs online. We want our businesses, our entrepreneurs, to keep their horizons wide. We want our young people to target the world and follow new technologies. We would like to take this opportunity to address our entrepreneurs; Don't miss this opportunity, the opportunity is at your fingertips. We say integrate your dreams and business into the digital economy.”

- “With the pandemic, all countries experienced a significant leap in digitalization”

Asked about the contribution of the digitalization process to business and the Turkish economy, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the digital economy is among the most important agendas in the economic system and in all developed countries. They are trying to internalize concepts such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, internet of things. Production methods and consumption patterns are changing very quickly. Due to the pandemic, supply chains are being redesigned. All processes from logistics to production, services sector to agriculture are now going digital. We cannot ignore the opportunities provided by the digital economy and the rapid transformation in this field. It seems difficult for our companies which cannot keep up with the world digital transformation to survive in the coming period. With the pandemic, all countries experienced a significant leap in digitalization. When we look at the world, we see that all fast-growing companies chose software and e-commerce routes. By 2020, the global electronic commerce market has reached $1 trillion. That's the result of making the most of technology. Those who said yesterday that they can't do e-commerce are trying to learn how to engage in e-commerce today, because the whole world is going here. And we don't have the luxury of missing it.”

- “We are focused on the development of e-commerce in Turkey”

Providing information about the support given to e-commerce, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The volume of e-commerce in Turkey reached approximately 92 billion Liras in the first 6 months of 2020. Data for its second six months is expected to be released in March. However, we expect e-commerce volume to increase to more than 250 billion Liras by 2020. The ratio of e-commerce in retail trade is 14%, we are just at the beginning of the road. Our businesses can reach all of Turkey at once with e-commerce. This brings a great opportunity for both sellers and consumers. Our SMEs and entrepreneurs need to take advantage of the opportunity to become more visible in this medium.”

- TOBB's digitalization activities

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that as TOBB, they focus on the development of e-commerce in Turkey and shed light on the digitalization of SMEs and enable them to turn to e-commerce. Reminding that they carried out trainings in 81 provinces, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “More than 4,000 participants participated in our certified e-commerce trainings held in June and November. By dealing with e-commerce marketplaces operating nationally, we have ensured that our entrepreneurs are given advantageous packages. As TOBB, we have introduced zero-commission sales to our e-commerce businesses for the first time. We offer turnkey e-commerce packages to our entrepreneurs who want to establish their own e-commerce infrastructure. With the authorization of our Ministry of Commerce, we started to award e-commerce sites trust seals as TOBB in order to establish a sense of trust in consumers. Now, if consumers shop on sites with trust seals, we provide guarantee against risk of credit cards being stolen or copied. We have allocated trust seals to 27 e-commerce sites. Next up, we are currently conducting experiments at 100 companies which have applied, and after they are finished, we will award them trust seal. From these sites, our consumers have become able to shop with peace of mind. In the coming period, the orientation of geographically marked products to e-export, the training of qualified professionals to work in the e-commerce sector and the fact that our women entrepreneurs take a greater share of e-commerce will be our priorities.”

Stating that Turkey's inventory is very strong in terms of production capability and production diversity, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We believe in the entrepreneurial power of our country. As the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, we will continue to support our SMEs, startups, women and young entrepreneurs as always.”

- Chicago Turkish Trade Center

Asked about the Chicago Turkish Trade Center, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that the United States is the largest market in the world with a population of more than 350 million and import volume approaching $2.5 trillion. For this reason, Turkish Trade Centers aim to provide all manner of services that our businesses in markets abroad may need from a single point supported by our Ministry of Commerce. Here we have an area of 10,000 square meters to serve everyone, including those who want to export to our industrialists all over Turkey and enter the American market. There’s offices, warehouses, showrooms, everything. We're not here to give our companies an office and tell them to work. As TOBB, we work with Turks and Americans who know this market very well. In our center, we have created a team with a total U.S. experience of more than 80 years. Our team supports our businesses that want to expand from Turkey to the United States with experience in everything from company establishment to accounting, legal services to sales, marketing and after-sales services. So if you ask what its function is, we want to be a stile for businesses in the United States. We hold Turkish businesses’ hand until they stand on their own in the U.S. market. In addition, we saw the potential of e-commerce and digital transactions and installed a shelf system in our warehouse. Therefore, we are open to all kinds of businesses that want to sell through digital marketplaces. We carry out return, technical support and other after-sales services of these businesses. In other words, we do our part as TOBB to support the initiatives of e-commerce and e-exports.”

Referring to the Trust Seal, Hisarciklıoğlu said, “Please look for the trust seal on sites when shopping as a consumer. You can use your credit card and shop from the site with a trust seals with confidence.”