Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The Global Entrepreneurship Forum was held at the Lütfi Kırdar International Congress and Exhibition Hall hosted by TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council, TOBB Young Entrepreneurs Council, Endeavor and MIT EF under TOBB’s leadership as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Speaking at the Forum, TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that 127 countries celebrate the Global Entrepreneurship Week and that the organization was being held for the third time under TOBB’s lead.

“Why entrepreneurship?” asked Hisarcıklıoğlu, “If we are to pick a profession, our culture suggests that we choose to be entrepreneurs. But what is the real personal reason behind entrepreneurship? Are there any among you that do not wish to be rich? The key to that is in entrepreneurship, my friends. Unfortunately I’ve not seen anything like it anywhere other than this country. It is not shameful to be rich. What could be more beneficent than employing people?”

Reminding that the USSR collapsed without a single shot being fired, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that until that time USSR had surpassed the USA in technology and was on equal military footing, “Then what happened? Not a shot was fired, there was no war. There was only one thing missing. There were no entrepreneurs. Where there are entrepreneurs, there is competition, quality and service. You can go down without a single shot being fired no matter how strong you are in terms of military or technology.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that Turkey’s change of mentality started in the 1980’s with Turgut Özal, “Back then, Greece and Saudi Arabia were richer than us. What happened 30 years later? Take them both together and they barely equal Turkey. We have no oil, no natural gas but we discovered our enterprising spirit 30 years ago thanks to Özal.”

- “You are educating your daughters to have them give their diplomas to their husbands”

Talking about the reasons behind the establishment of the Women Entrepreneurs Council, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that half the population is women, that women have always been neglected in terms of entrepreneurship.

“What do we do? We are boxing with one arm, trying to beat our opponents. If half the population is women then so should half the entrepreneurs be women.” Hisarcıklıoğlu said that Muslims should take the Revered Prophet Muhammed as an example.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The wife of the Revered Prophet was one of the biggest merchants in Mecca. How are you following the Prophet’s example? You educate your daughters until they marry in order to give the diploma to their husbands. In my view there is no difference between men and women in entrepreneurship.”

Stating that another neglected factor are the young entrepreneurs, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that half the population were under the age of 28.

Reminding everyone of the “making inventions (making stuff up)” saying in Turkish, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Don’t tell that to your children. Today, you need to invent if you wish to make money.”

Stating that tech giants like Facebook and Google were created on just a computer, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Today, you don’t need capital to be an entrepreneur, a computer is enough.”
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