Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and the American Companies Association collaborated to support SMEs to export e-commerce to the United States. In the joint project of TOBB and the American Companies Association, with the support of UPS, the companies to be selected from the applicants will be paired with mentors. Market analysis will be carried out with the companies and the companies will be allowed to e-export to the US market for the first time.

- How will it work?

In cooperation with TOBB and the American Companies Association, potential companies will be identified in priority sectors. These companies will be provided with strategic planning, consultancy and business development support to mature their e-export processes to the U.S. market. The companies will be part of the cooperation network by meeting with both experienced teams in the field of e-exports and actors who have taken new steps towards e-export.

Companies aiming to export e-commerce to the United States in sectors such as furniture, textiles, apparel and machinery sub-industries whose mentoring applications are approved will have the opportunity to review the current cross-border e-commerce processes, increase their business volumes and accelerate their processes.

Companies that will have one-to-one meetings with mentors will enter the U.S. market with e-exports. However, it's not the first time that The companies will be connected with TOBB's “Turkey Trade Center” in Chicago, USA, increasing their momentum in the US market.

- Call to SMEs

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated in his assessment of the cooperation that “We continue to provide active support to our entrepreneurs for new trade opportunities.” Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that they want to increase Turkey's share of global foreign trade and said: “As TOBB, we are working to ensure greater participation of our SMEs, which are indispensable elements of economic development, in the global value chain and to improve the opportunities of our companies to access markets. We aim to take our entrepreneurs directly to a larger audience, take them to the next level and take advantage of e-exports. In this context, with the American Companies Association, we have identified sub-sectors with high e-export potential to America. With this work, which we carry out in order to further develop bilateral trade between Turkey and the United States, we will ensure that our companies meet with the U.S. market through e-export method.”

- Mentoring program

Tankut Turnaoğlu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Companies Association, which represents more than 110 American companies with investments of more than $50 billion in Turkey, said that they aim to bring together small and medium-sized enterprises targeting the American market with their members. “‎One of our priorities as the American Companies Association is to ensure greater participation of Turkish companies in the global value chain‎. In this sense, we carry out the 'E-commerce Mentoring' program in cooperation with TOBB and with the support of our member UPS.”

- New opportunity in e-export

UPS Turkey General Manager Burak Kılıç emphasized the importance of the project while stating that the global e-export volume is expected to be $2.4 trillion in 2025. “The digital transformation we experienced in exports and trade accelerated dizzyingly with this expectation. Businesses in Turkey may also be involved in this transformation. This program will open new doors for participants in terms of e-exports.”