Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Stating the importance of these projects for SMBs, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Turkey is an ocean of SMBs. Our people are entrepreneurs. Every year around there is an increase of 10-12% in newly established companies of the total number of active companies. This ratio is almost double that of the EU. We do have one problem though. Our companies have a hard time achieving growth, they stay where they start. Afterwards they either lag behind or get liquidated due to global competition. Therefore we are unable to attain the same success in company growth as we do in company establishment. Our goal is to help the SMBs of today to become the Turkish companies who can compete on a global scale of tomorrow. It is for this reason that we, as TOBB, devise and enact projects which will enable our companies to succeed and integrate to global economy.”

- ABİGEMs in 4 cities

In a project planned to span 3 years with a 8.5 million Euros, Turkey-EU Business Development Centers (ABİGEMs) will be established in Sivas, Antakya, Batman and Van provinces. ABİGEM will provide information, training, consultation and project development services to all companies in these provinces in order to strengthen the competitive power of SMBs. At least 500 SMBs will receive consultation services as a result of the project. 50 training programs, with the participation of at least 250,000, will be conducted. Chambers’ ability to aid SMBs will be heightened, 30 entrepreneurship programs will be conducted with the participation of at least 300, 150 of which will be women. The number of ABİGEMs in Turkey will reach 19.

- Training for all echelons

Another project aiming at strengthening the compliance ability of SMB workers to global economy and technological advances will provide training to employers as well as employees. The project, which will start at the end of this year and last for 2 years, will be conducted in Elazığ, Malatya, Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Trabzon, Kayseri, Van, Kastamonu, Sivas, Samsun, Gaziantep, Kars, Erzurum, Kahramanmaraş and Batman. As part of the project, an analysis to gauge the needs for general and vocational training will be made. This analysis will act as a guide for the trainings. SMBs employees, employers and Chamber workers will take part in business trips to EU countries aimed at improving their knowledge and capabilities. As well as continuing to support SMBs, Training and Consultation Centers will be established at TOBB and in Kayseri, Gaziantep, Samsun, Elazığ and Kastamonu. The budget for the project will be 5 million Euros.

- 20 Domestic and Foreign Chambers will form partnerships

As the third project, called “Turkey-EU Chamber Forum-2”, bond between TOBB and EUROCHAMBRES and their roles in the EU admission process will be strengthened. This will allow the progress made by Turkey and the impact of it on the business world to be reviewed by the policy makers. The service capacity of chambers in Turkey will be improved. About 20 chambers in Turkey and their European counterparts will participate in joint projects. The projects will be granted 50,000 to 150,000 Euros, starting September 2011 and ending in the year 2013. The budget for the project is 5 million Euros.

- The 3 projects and project costs

* The Contribution of Chambers to the Turkey-EU Civil Society Dialogue: Turkey-EU Chamber Forum  5,000,000-Euros

* Improvement of the SMB Employee and Employers Adaptability Project  5,000,000-Euros
* Extending the EU-Turkey Business Development Centers Network Project  8,500,000-Euros
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