Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Speaking at the meeting, Cengiz Günay said that as TOBB, they attach great importance to entrepreneurship and that it is an issue that they have been acting as its patron for years.

Günay stated that they can define entrepreneurship as believing in an idea, standing behind that idea, working for that idea and ultimately obtaining dreams established within the scope of the relevant idea. At this point, we actually see the phenomenon of successful entrepreneurship. Successful startups are models that make the most accurate connection between dream and reality. However, it is not always possible to establish this bond. Constantly changing market conditions can prevent planned models from succeeding.”

Cengiz Günay stated that both state and EU support have come into play at this point. Therefore, these supports play a major role both in implementing new projects related to the existing enterprises of SMEs and in reducing the financial risks that entrepreneurs take when implementing their ideas.”

Günay said that as TOBB, they work very closely with public institutions and organizations on state subsidies, report the needs of entrepreneurs and SMEs to the relevant organizations and organize activities to disseminate information about this support when new support is published.

Stating that entrepreneurs and SMEs are aware of state support but do not benefit sufficiently from the support within the scope of EU programs, “In this context, we assessed that it would be beneficial to provide an education on project writing to our Chambers and Exchanges within the framework of EU Programs as a result of the negotiations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs EU Directorate. Thanks to this, our EU Directorate took very rapid action and in cooperation with them, we gave project writing training to 140 people working in our Chamber-Exchanges. We continue to train our Chamber-Exchange employees in this regard, and I hope that these trainings will bear fruit in a short time. Together with these 140 colleagues we have trained, we aim to bring more EU Funds to our Chamber-Exchange community and to our SMEs and entrepreneurs in 2021 -2027 compared to the previous period.”

Cengiz Günay stressed that one of the main features of benefiting from EU programs is to create strong consortiums. “‎Strong consortiums are formed from the right institutions coming together.‎ TOBB operates as the umbrella organization of the Turkish private sector with 365 Chamber-Exchanges and 1.5 million members. Again, with TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council and TOBB Young Entrepreneurs Council, we are the driving force of Turkey's entrepreneurship ecosystem with 15,000 members. We have an umbrella role for the Turkish private sector, covering all organizations operating in the private sector. We have a prestigious position as TOBB in the international field along with the duties of TOBB President Mr. Hisarciklıoğlu at EUROCHAMBERS and international organizations.”

Calling on stakeholders operating in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, Günay said that they can consider TOBB as a member of the project consortiums for the inclusive projects they have developed within the framework of the EU Programmes, and that they can support the project activities by talking to each other, both in the dissemination of the project in Turkey and in the lobbying activities to be carried out before the EU for the project, in cooperation with the EU Directorate.