04.05.2019 Balıkesir
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech at TOBB Turkey Technology Meetings held in Balıkesir, stated that digital technology offers new opportunities for countries which missed the industrial revolution, like Turkey.
TOBB
Turkey Technology Meeting was held in Balıkesir with the participation of Industry
and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank and TOBB President M. Rifat
Hisarcıklıoğlu.
Reporting
that Turkey Technology Meeting is being held in Turkey for the second time in
Balıkesir, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Because we know and we see the potential of
Balıkesir. First of all, the land is fertile; there’s sea and forest.
Agriculture, industry and tourism are all present. There’s airport, seaport,
railway and highway. And hardworking people who make use of them. So Balıkesir
is indeed a very different place. For all these reasons, we came to Balıkesir
again.”
TOBB
President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that digital technology offers new
opportunities for countries which missed the industrial revolution, like Turkey.
Hisarcıklıoğlu,
noting that the oldest companies of the world had emerged from sectors such as
finance, energy, iron-steel or automotive, pointed out that they are 50-60
years old, “Nearly all of the biggest companies are in the field of technology.
Young companies with 5-10 years behind them, replacing the old. Forming a
billion-dollar company was the monopoly of a few countries in the past. The
Internet and the digital world have changed this. So far, globally there are
326 ‘unicorns’, meaning start-up companies worth 1 billion USD. Among them are Nigerians,
Colombians, Estonians, Portuguese, Argentinians.”
Pointing
out that Turkey has yet to produce a unicorn, the TOBB President said, “Because
instead of work, we use the internet to gossip and chat. But digital
transformation is inevitable. Good or bad, we don't know yet. But it is
inevitable.”
- Internet is the way to trade in
this day and age
Hisarcıklıoğlu,
touching on the historic Silk Road and Spice Road, said that those who utilized
them prospered and that they way to trade in this day and age is through the internet,
passing through every home and workplace.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
said that a product produced in a district of Balıkesir can be sold to the
farthest corner of Australia, reaching a market of 5 billion people and 25
trillion USD.
Stating
that Turkey missed the industrial revolution and that they have felt the pain
of it for years, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Now we have a new opportunity. We need
to catch this internet revolution. Let me give you a striking example. You may
have heard. Sears, the famous retailer in America, has come to the point of
bankruptcy. Most young people wouldn’t know, but in the past, they had catalogs
thick as phone books. You could order through the postal system and receive
your goods with the same system. The innovation of the 20th century was sales
from this catalog. In 2007, when Sears' number of stores reached 4,000, and the
number of employees reached 360,000, the newly established Amazon had but a few
thousand employees. Currently, Sears' number of employees has fallen to 90,000.
The number of Amazon employees reached 570,000.
Thanks
to E-Commerce, there is less need for brick and mortar stores. But there is a
need to build a chain of large brick and mortar logistic centers, artificial
intelligence experts who will organize it all, and a cybersecurity team. This
is how development happens.
We
must leave yesterday in to the past and look forward,” said Hisarcıklıoğlu and
stressed the importance of relaying the risks and opportunities to companies.
- Using technology in every field
Hisarcıklıoğlu
emphasized that the winners did not win by simply selling over the internet, that
they used technology in every field, “The company that uses technology while
doing its job differs according to its competitors and stands out.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
said that, it is for this the reason that they had taken another first step in
Turkey, stablishing the TOBB ETU Artificial Intelligence Department.
Hisarcıklıoğlu explained that they will prepare young people for the digital
world. Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they will establish a new entrepreneurship
center in Istanbul together with a global technology company and they will open
Turkish entrepreneurs to the world.
Emphasizing
that the way of doing business in the world has changed now, TOBB President
continued, “It used to be that you did what everyone else is doing. The best
way to differentiate is to use technology. That's the best way to recoup.
The
opportunity is huge. In 2018, our e-export was around 500 million USD. But the potential
is 50 or even 100 times that. You should not miss this opportunity. Life is now
in the digital world. We have to be there now. If you want to reach more
consumers, here is the solution. If you want to work more efficiently, here's
the solution. If you want to make a difference in your business, here's the
solution.”
- Bakan Varank
The
Minister of Industry and Technology, Mustafa Varank said, “This initiative by
TOBB, fills an important gap. 69 Technology Meetings have been held in 31
provinces up to now. We are going through a different and challenging global
conjuncture. Another dimension of business is the rapid change and
transformation in technology. It is important to draw our direction clearly. We
are aware of the risks and we have to evaluate the opportunities in the best
way. We have to create new opportunities and new outputs for ourselves.”
Drawing
attention to the importance of national technology, Minister Varank said, “We
aim to make use of our domestic and national resources in the best way in all
sub-sectors of the industry and to lead the technology at the forefront. In
order to adapt to digitalization and achieve digital transformation in
accordance with our structural fundamentals, it is necessary to gain
competitive advantage.”
- Turkey-Vodafone Manager Colman
Deegan
Vodafone
Turkey Manager Colman Deegan stated that they are meeting with many
establishments as a part of the ‘Digital Transformation Movement’ they are
conducting in cooperation with TOBB.
Deegan
said that they determined the digitalization levels of SMEs and provinces in
Anatolia by calculating their digital scores. Reporting that Turkey's digital
score was 53, as a result of the various efforts geared towards this, the score
has been increased to 69, “As Vodafone, we will continue to stand by SMEs with
our products and services.”