Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Hisarcıklıoğlu, stating that women are the first teachers of all humanity, said, “Be sure your children receive their education, especially your daughters. Explain to them that neither reason, success nor economy have gender. Encourage them to become entrepreneurs. I stress again: Reason has no gender. Success has no gender. The economy has no gender. If we want to prosper, if we aim to put Turkey among the world's top 10 economies, we need women. If we increase the labor force participation of our women to the level of men, our economy will grow 20% more. In other words, our national income will increase by 170 billion USD and exceeding 1 trillion USD.”

- Hisarcıklıoğlu expressed gratitude

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu, speaking at the Turkey Women Entrepreneurs Meeting held at the İstanbul Lütfi Kırdar Hall with the attendances of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan, Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan and TESK President Bendevi Palandöken, emphasized the importance of women entrepreneurs for the economy. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We are very aware of the sensitivities of our President and Mrs. Emine Erdoğan. Mrs. Erdoğan inspires us when she says ‘policy, economy, bureaucracy bereft of women is incomplete.’ I would like to thank them for this beautiful vision. We also have a woman Minister at the head of the commerce. Our Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan is also a successful entrepreneur and respected businesswoman. We are very proud of our Minister.

- Turkey's largest network of women entrepreneurs

Stating that they could not achieve any of their goals without women, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they have established the Women Entrepreneurs Council in 2007 with this vision. “The seeds we’ve sown together have borne fruit,” the TOBB President said and reported that, with nearly 7,000 members in 81 provinces, it is Turkey's largest women entrepreneurs network. Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that Minister Pekcan has contributed greatly to this success and added, “We’ve realized many projects of the Council together with her. We’ve worked hard for 12 years with our Minister. 10 years ago, the number of women entrepreneurs was only 75,000; now it stands at 130,000. Our Women Entrepreneur Council has contributed greatly to this increase. There are hundreds of activities every year. They produce projects with world giants. Allah bless them all. They have now completed democratic elections in 81 provinces. I congratulate all women entrepreneurs elected heartily and wish them success. Working with you, we will write new success stories with a new excitement.”

- Women write the future

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu sharing their findings from the TOBB ETU’s graduation ceremony, Turkey's first entrepreneurial university, said that the valedictorians of almost all departments are girls.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that if women were supported, they would do the rest. “That’s what we are aiming for as TOBB. We started working with the world's leading technology companies. Together with Turkcell, we kicked off the award winning Women Write the Future project. In 18 provinces, we have trained 1,800 women on coding and business plan preparation. We taught 5,000 women entrepreneurs, how they can use Facebook and Instagram to trade. We also carry out the Digital Workshop Project with Google. We provide digitalization training for our entrepreneurs and youth. The aim is to teach our SMEs what they need to do to effectively exist in the digital world. We will continue to produce projects in all these fields. With the support of Mrs. Erdoğan, in 2019, we will achieve much greater successes. Because the economy needs a woman's touch. Studies already conducted show that women's businesses are more successful. Women have different perspectives. They work meticulously. Their instincts are strong. Their leadership skills are outstanding. They bring quality to the economy, add meaning, and bring enthusiasm, excitement, refinement and grace. If we want to prosper; if we aim to put Turkey among the world's top 10 economies, we need women. If we increase the labor force participation of our women to the level of men, our economy will grow 20%. In other words, our national income will increase by 170 billion USD and exceed 1 trillion USD.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that he had the opportunity to meet with a female entrepreneur who is marketing women's labor to the world in a village in Anatolia, who said, “’My President, we are ready to do more. But the biggest obstacle ahead is the husbands of the women who work in the workshop!’ In other words, women, in addition to all the problems in business life, have to fight us, men. But there is a way to overcome it: to unite. To stand as one. Protect each other. It is primarily in your hands to break down prejudices towards women.”

- Emine Erdoğan, the wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan stated in her speech that the world needs more women's power than ever before and said, “The environmental problems facing the world, the crisis of human and moral values, the issues which women can always provide solutions for. The world is waiting to be redesigned with the female spirit.”

Emine Erdoğan expressed her pleasure in standing with entrepreneurial women on March 8^th International Women's Day, as a manifesto of women's power.

Stating that their dreams of increasing the number of women in business life has borne bounteous fruit, Erdoğan said that they can now enjoy this harvest together.

“Not a day goes by that we don't see a new woman turning a great idea into a business,” said Erdoğan and emphasized that women now find this confidence in themselves easily.

Erdoğan stated that the government also provides great support in this, “The government provides assistance in overcoming the obstacles to building a business. Women receive micro-credits to encourage entrepreneurship as affirmative action. The support credit signed today by Turk Eximbank shows that women’s exporting entrepreneurship has crossed borders and it is very gratifying.”

- Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan

In her speech, Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said, “We need to provide our women and women entrepreneurs with financing support to make them exporters. In order to accomplish this, Eximbank, along with QNB Finansbank, are announcing a new financing package for our women entrepreneurs and exporters. This credit which will be issued to companies employing 51% women towards their export endeavors amounting to a total of 200 million USD with an additional 100 million TRY.”

Pekcan provided the following information about the new package: “To come to the major good news of the day: Support is necessary in order to enable our women and women entrepreneurs to become exporters. In order to accomplish this, Eximbank, along with QNB Finansbank, are announcing a new financing package for our women entrepreneurs and exporters. In the presence of Mrs. Erdoğan, the directors of the banks will be putting their signatures to paper today. This credit which will be issued to companies employing 51% women towards their export endeavors amounting to a total of 200 million USD with an additional 100 million TRY. A strong women’s presence in the economy is surety of social prosperity.”

The signatures which will launch the support package were signed by QND Finansbank Corporate and Commercial Banking Vice General Manager Ömür Tan and Türk Eximbank General Manager Adnan Yıldırım.