08.11.2018 İstanbul
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech at the 8th Entrepreneurs Power of the Future Forum (G3), said, “You must keep your eyes on the world and try to learn a foreign language. Learn to work together. Every job starts with a dream; imagine and go after your dreams.”
Explaining
the key points of entrepreneurship at the 8th Entrepreneurs Power of
the Future Forum, moderated by journalist Vahap Munyar the TOBB President M.
Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, pointing out that this forum is one of the most institutional
entrepreneurship activities in Turkey and said, “It is easy access to
information in this age. I mean, there's no problem with know-how. The main
point is to get to know the right people, to set up a network. That is the
where we provide know-how. We introduce Turkey's star with entrepreneurs with
candidate entrepreneurs.”
While
thanking those who contributed to this event, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “I would
like to thank Ali Sabancı, the Chairman of the Young Entrepreneurship Board,
Gülden Yılmaz, G-3 Platform President, HABITAT President Sezai Hazır and
TURKCELL. I would also like to congratulate the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce,
Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, Istanbul Chamber of
Commerce, women and young entrepreneurs, and all of our chambers-exchanges, who
supported this event.”
- Transformation throughout the
world
TOBB
President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said: “There is a great transformation in the
world. The borders of a country used to mean a lot. Today, the borders of a country
have lost their old meaning. It is possible to reach anywhere with internet.
Everybody's connected. In other words, everyone has become part of a whole.
Global value chains were formed.” Hisarcıklıoğlu, giving an example of iPhone,
pointed out that although it was a US company, parts were produced in 30
different countries. “This provides an opportunity for developing countries. In
their own countries, production capacity is established. The shift of the
center of gravity of the global economy from the west to the east is related to
this,” said Hisarcıklıoğlu and pointed out the second big change was
experienced in companies.
- Intellectual labor has replaced
physical labor
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that intellectual labor has replaced physical labor, and that companies
of old have left their places to the new generation. The TOBB President stated
that in the last 10 years, energy companies were replaced by tech companies throughout
the world, “So what is happens to those who cannot keep up with this change? They
fall, unable to keep up with change. The lesson must be learned: those who
can’t keep up with the change, lose. While all of this is happening in the
world, what are we busy with? The world is discussing artificial intelligence,
nanotechnology, clean energy and genetics research, but people in Turkey are
talking politics, sports, gossip and TV series. What people focus on is what
they’ll make progress in. The world discusses the 21st Century issues and
prepares itself for a post-industrial revolution. We need to keep up with all
this. We can't produce technology if we don't produce science. We are
experiencing some difficulties in the economy. But remember this. In the last
25 years, we have experienced five important economic crises. We've overcome them
all; we've moved on. We will not be outdone this time either. Trust your
country and yourself. We will overcome this troubled period and continue on the
road.”
- Recommendations from
Hisarcıklıoğlu
Speaking
at the forum, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The know-how business is
sorted, what is important know is reaching the right person, that is, the
know-who.” Sharing his own entrepreneurship story at the forum, Hisarcıklıoğlu
said, “When I was 7 years old in primary school, my father wanted to send me to
a boarding school in Ankara. He asked me to learn English. I was the only child
and nobody wanted me to go. I came to Kayseri during the holidays. I spent 3.5
months apprenticed at the pharmacy. When the school opened, all my friends were
telling me about their beach vacation. I worked every summer during my
education.” Hisarcıklıoğlu stating that when he finished university, his father
set up a job for him at a bank, “I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I did not want
to be a salary-man, I wanted to be rich.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
went on, “Turkey had met natural gas for the first time. I observed that pipes
are imported from England. Natural gas business would from Ankara to all over
Turkey. I said, we should be producing these pipes. We made it, developed it
and sold it. No need to be emotional. The idea was mine, I established the
company but after it reached its value, we sold it and entered other fields. We
made one of the first shopping centers in Ankara. I always work with experts of
any given field. I keep those smarter than myself with me. My friends that I
worked with when starting up are currently CEOs in large companies in Turkey.
Imagination, courage, confidence and a good team: If you can build it, success
comes. My father wanted me to be a good public servant, but I did not.”
- Istanbul Commodity Exchange
(ISTIB) Chairman Ali Kopuz
Istanbul
Commodity Exchange (ISTIB) Chairman Ali Kopuz stated that calling entrepreneurs
the “power of the future” is correct insufficient, stating that entrepreneurs
are not only the power of the future, but also the past.
Kopuz,
highlighting the importance of the existence of the legal infrastructure to
improve free entrepreneurs, enterprise and business environment, said they are
making great efforts for the creation of an environment in which Turkey's
entrepreneurs can grow.
- G3 Platform Chair Gülden Yılmaz
G3
Platform President Gülden Yılmaz said that they met with more than 7,000 entrepreneurs
and entrepreneur candidates at the G3 Forum in the 7 years behind them and
said, “Thousands of new business ideas sprouted here. Some of our participants
have already begun to implement their business ideas and write their own success
stories.”
- Founding Chairman of Habitat
Sezai Hazır
Habitat
Founding President Sezai Hazır said that as Habitat, they have provided 1.5
million people with face-to-face training with the projects they have carried
out so far, and there are more than 5,000 volunteer trainers in 81 provinces.