Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

  In his speech at the press conference with the attendances of Minister of Industry and Commerce Nihat Ergün, MÜSİAD President Ömer Cihand Vardan and TESK President Bendevi Palandöken, TOBB Deputy Chairman and ITO President Murat Yalçıntaş defined KSEP as a very important document for the Turkish private sector. Murat Yalçıntaş stated that this document explains the basic strategies of SMEs and lists their priorities. The document was prepared by all parties involved with KOSGEB. In Turkey, as everywhere else in the world, the driving force behind development and economy are SMEs, spoke Yalçıntaş, SMEs not only bring about economic development but also shoulder important social roles in Turkey. Yalçıntaş stated that SMEs’ effects in spreading the wealth; encouraging competition and adaptation to novelties as well engendering competitiveness are of great import. Saying that today’s big firms were yesterday’s SMEs, Yalçıntaş went on;“Many firms which we are proud of today were SMEs just yesterday. All economies, especially developed ones, place importance in their SMEs. They provide support in order for these small enterprises to prosper and turn into big brands. If Turkey is to compete against developed countries, if we are to surpass them in our goals, so must we support our SMEs, must stand behind our small enterprises. We must nurture these small enterprises and provide plans to make them into big brands.”   - Minister of Industry and Commerce Nihat Ergün   Minister of Industry and Commerce Nihat Ergün disclosed their plans to implement a new credit package for 100,000 enterprises in the second half of this year, “This will have a credit limit of 50,000 liras and aims to aid those who were unable to attain credit in the first pass. Ergün touched on the rumors of a credit package being announced that day;“Yes, there will be a new credit package but not on the date purported to.” Ergün went on to say that the credit package to be distributed via KOSGEB to 50,000 enterprises was still in the works.   - MÜSİAD President Ömer Cihad Vardan   Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) President Ömer Cihad Vardan stated that the 5 strategic areas and associated 16 goals were correct assessments of necessity-oriented issues. He also expressed his gratification for the tangibility of the action plan via being fleshed out by association with 83 action plans. Vardan stated that in order to spread the SMEs dynamism, a entrepreneurship culture must be nurtured.   - TESK President Bendevi Palandöken   Turkey Artisans and Craftsmen Confederation (TESK) President Bendevi Palandöken said that the first things that come to mind when talking about SMEs are the artisans and craftsmen, and, through KOSGEB’s inclusion two years prior, the service sector.   - SME Strategy and Action Plan’s Outline   The goal of the 2011-2013 SME Strategy and Action Plan is “to endorse accessibility in an environment sensitive to small business’ needs; increase production-investment volume and added value; encourage growth, via high quality service and support. To enact 83 actions and projects in 5 strategic fields under the coordination of KOSGEB during the 2011-2013 period. The 5 strategic fields; “Support and development of entrepreneurship”, “SMEs leadership skills and advancement of institutional effectiveness”, “observation of SMEs during the restoration of the business and investment environment”, “the development of SMEs’ R&D and innovative capabilities”, “facilitating the accessibility of financing for SMEs and entrepreneurs”. The plan aims to support SMEs in fields where their smaller scales may cause a disadvantage and bring about sensitivity to SMEs needs in the business environment. The plan will be enacted by KSEP Director Committee, made up of high-level representatives from various public administration offices, NGOs and business organizations.