Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Lead by TOBB and hosted by TOBB Young Entrepreneurs Council, TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council and Gate Turkey and supported by Vodafone, the Power of the Future: Entrepreneurs Forum took place at the İstanbul Lütfü Kırdar Sports Hall.

In his speech, TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu drew attention to the importance of entrepreneurship. Stating that entrepreneurship has become an important factor, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that Turkey’s most important capital is the entrepreneurial spirit of its people. The TOBB President said, “Thirty years ago, Turkey was neither Saudi Arabia nor Greece. Both were ahead of us. Today, we are ahead of both of them together. The reason for that is our entrepreneurs. Is the distance we’ve come enough? Unfortunately, no. We must encourage establishing a good business as opposed to finding a good job.”

- We have founded the largest women’s organization of Turkey

Stating that they have founded the largest women’s organization in Turkey, Hisarcıklıoğlu said:
“We have 5,000 women and 5,000 young entrepreneurs organized under TOBB’s roof. Everyone knows that the future lies in entrepreneurship. The thing which saddens me the most is that we have yet to equalize the numbers of men and women entrepreneurs.

We must most certainly encourage our daughters to be entrepreneurial. The mentality regarding girls in Anatolia is that they should receive a good education, find a good husband and then, stay at home. We are all from a culture which abhors waste and unjust gain. We cannot waste our precious limited resources by insisting our daughters remain at home.

Who does a Muslim emulate? Our Revered Prophet. Why, then, do we not emulate him? His wife, the revered Hatice was one of the biggest traders of Mecca. It is wrong to say that we emulate him and bar our daughters from commerce.”

- Entrepreneurs university: TOBB ETU

Stating that they established TOBB ETU to create an entrepreneurial university, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they’ve structured the university to encourage innovation and invention.
Relating how they have brought together all Turkish entrepreneurs all over the world as the Turkish diaspora, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the aspects of entrepreneurship have changed in the last 10 years.

- The internet has changed the rules of the game

Stating that the conditions of competition have changed, the TOBB President said, “It is not your neighbors or your city; what you are competing against is the whole world. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that you can market your goods anywhere in the world. The internet has changed the rules of the game. The shortest way to become an entrepreneur is to invent.

It is an age for inventions. It is impossible to become rich without inventing. It is necessary to imagine in order to bring about new ideas. Entrepreneurial individuals must dream. Your dreams are the only place where you are free. Without dreams, could man have gone into space?

Just imagination by itself is not enough. You must turn your dreams into goals. You cannot cross chasms with small steps. Your goal must be big.

When the late Özal said that 10 million tourists would visit Turkey, nobody believed him. He was mocked in caricatures. We have achieved 10 million, our new goal is 32 million tourists.

We are 6th country in the world in terms of tourism. This was achieved by entrepreneurs. We earn 30 billion dollars from tourism yearly. You cannot motivate without a goal.”

- New traditions for an old village

Urging young entrepreneurs to bring new traditions to the old village, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Whoever brings new traditions to the old village will be successful. Every morning, as you commute, remember that yesterday is behind and there are new things to be done today. You don’t even need capital anymore; a 1,000$ laptop is as good as capital nowadays. One of the magical words for this is innovation. Even these are not enough. You have to be brand aware no matter what you do. The only way to make lots of money is though branding.

Leave behind the mentality wherein you must do everything yourself, where you own everything. We must learn to share. Nothing can be achieved without sharing. If you want to save the new generation, you must teach your children partnership.
Another important point is hard work. It is impossible to achieve any of this without hard work. You can’t travel around and have fun and also earn big. I have not been able to find a way to do it. You can’t be successful unless you work hard.

Never fall into despair or hopelessness. Never be afraid to lose. You can’t learn to not lose without losing. That is another point: if you see a series of mistakes, don’t look for people to blame; question the system. Smart people work on the system not the people.”

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu thanked everyone for their contributions to the opening of the International Entrepreneurship Center.

- The year’s entrepreneurship award awarded to TEPAV

After the speeches, the Year’s Entrepreneurship Award Ceremony took place. TEPAV received the award for its contributions and successful work in the development and spread of entrepreneurship.
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