25.10.2016 Ankara
The first meeting of the e-commerce sector council founded under TOBB was held with the attendances of TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu and Customs and Commerce Minister Bülent Tüfenkci.
TOBB President
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that an important step has been taken in regards to
ensuring e-commerce sector consolidation, the driving force behind the new
economy; he pointed out that sector councils bring the prominent companies of
the sector, associations and public institutions together.
“This council works
to present agreed upon proposals for solutions to the problems facing the
sector to public institutions. The better this council works, the faster
e-commerce will develop in Turkey. By working together, you can contribute to
the implementation of the right policies as well as the creation of projects
which will benefit the sector. The rest is in your hands.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu drew
attention to the importance put on the sector by Customs and Commerce Minister
Tüfenkci and representatives of the Economy Ministry and Information
Technologies and Communications Institute, stating that this is an opportunity
which should not be wasted.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that Turkey is only now beginning to embrace e-commerce, “Only 2% of all retail
commerce is conducted online while out of every 10 credit cards, only 1.2 has
been used to shop online. The share of online commerce in the economies of
developed countries is over 10% of all commercial activity. We are behind but
we can catch up.”
Pointing out that we
are unable to fully utilize the opportunities offered by the internet,
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that one of the primary reasons for this is the lack of
trust which also negatively impacts development of online commerce.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
reported that e-commerce is an important opportunity for Turkish entrepreneurs
to open up to foreign markets and that, as a part of the agreement signed with
the Chinese government last year, Turkey’s first e-commerce pilot zone will be
established in Kayseri and Chongqing, providing basic logistical, customs,
financing and organizational solutions.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that they also plan to bring the e-WTP, Electronic World Trade Platform to
Turkey.
- Customs and Commerce Minister Tüfenkci
Customs and Commerce
Minister Bülent Tüfenkci commented that e-commerce is rapidly developing in
Turkey, acting as permanent changes to the growth dynamics of the economy.
Reporting that the
e-commerce sector has grown by 50% in the last 3 years, Tüfenkci stated that
this growth has occurred with the change in marketing strategies.
- E-Commerce Council
The members of the
E-Commerce Council are representatives of Turkey’s prominent e-commerce
companies, e-commerce regulation bodies and e-commerce associations.
The TOBB E-Commerce
Council has been formed to fully represent the sector in the formation of
policy to engender development of e-commerce in Turkey.