27.10.2014 Aydın
Attending various events in Aydın and its counties, speaking at the launch of the “Aydın Chamber of Commerce Leaps Forward” project, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that the internet has become the backbone of the economy and advocated its active use against the medium-income trap. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “You can work out of your office without becoming embroiled in bureaucracy, paperwork and pointless costs. This is an extraordinary opportunity for SMEs to lower theirs costs and open up to the world.” Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the informatics project in development by the Aydın Chamber of Commerce is an important example of this.
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu urged all SMEs to take advantage
of the opportunities brought on by the internet. Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized the
importance of the opportunity presented by the internet in terms of lowering
costs and stepping unto the global stage.
TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu, attending the launch held at the Aydın
Adnan Menderes University, the launch of the “Aydın Chamber of Commerce Leaps
Forward” project (AYTOBİL), stated in his speech that business will move faster
through the internet in Turkey. Advocating the active use of internet against
the medium-income trap, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “You can work out of your office
without becoming embroiled in bureaucracy, paperwork and pointless costs. This
is an extraordinary opportunity for SMEs to lower theirs costs and open up to
the world. Our chambers should take this into account moving forward. Aydın TO
has taken a positive step in this direction; I congratulate them.”
- “The internet is treated
dismissively”
Pointing out that the two main points of discussion throughout the world
are the rising prominence of cities in the economy and the internet becoming
the backbone of the economy. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We use the internet like a
newspaper, TV or a coffee house. We only view it as a social media tool. We have
the highest number of users on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately
we use those incorrectly as well. Everyone insults each other. The internet is
actually an opportunity for SMEs to lower costs and open up to the world. While
we use e-commerce to sell goods to our consumers, China uses it for export.
E-commerce presents the ability to operate a shop to every SME without being
forced to work with hypermarkets, supermarkets and distributors. The share of
e-commerce in total retail in the G20 is 4%, 14% in the UK while only 0.1% in
Turkey.”
- Competition between cities
Hisarcıklıoğlu drew attention to the fact that the world’s competition
takes place between cities instead of countries and went on to touch on the
subject of the UMEM Ability’10 Project as well as praising Aydın’s efforts in
this endeavor.
Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized the unique opportunities presented to Aydın
thanks to its agriculture, tourism, industry and mining resources.
Speaking in regards to incentives, Hisarcıklıoğlu advocated the need for
dynamic incentive policy instead of a static one.
Aydın Chamber of Commerce (AYTO) Board President Hakan Ülken provided
information on the AYTOBİL Project.
At the end of the meeting, AYTO Atlas Jet Protocol for Aydın Chamber of
Commerce members to fly for less as well as a protocol for the vocational
school to be built by TOBB in Aydın.