23.11.2019 İstanbul
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu who participated in the Final and Award Ceremony Program of the Women Writing the Future project in collaboration with TOBB, TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council and Turkcell, urged women to encourage their children to become entrepreneurs. “Success has no gender. The economy does not have gender," Hisarcıklıoğlu said, pointing out that women will still have the biggest share in breaking down their prejudices against women.
The
TOBB President emphasized the importance they attach to women entrepreneurs and
said, “I have a request from our women. Follow your dreams; be the hero of your
own story. I believe that by working together, we will write new success
stories.”
President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan attended the Final and Award Ceremony
held at Turkcell Plaza and those successful in the project were presented
awards. Hisarcıklıoğlu said in his speech that they were experiencing moments
of happiness and pride for the country's future. Borne out of the synergy from Turkey's
leading technology company Turkcell and Turkey's largest network of women
entrepreneurs, TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council, a great success has been
achieved Hisarciklıoğlu said, “We have added thousands of women to business
life; we have made entrepreneurs.
Now
we're going to reward the top three. But in my eyes, all of our women who are
bravely got involved deserve this award. For you have not only struggled with
these harsh living and working conditions. And many of you have come here, over
the men who stand in your way. I am proud of all of you individually and I
applaud you.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
also expressed his thanks to the project partner Turkcell, “They have made many
contributions both materially and spiritually. They invested in Turkey's human
resources. They brought the ideas produced by our female entrepreneurs to life.
They've made a great success story that's a voice in the world; won awards.
This is the vision of the modern private sector. I congratulate the entire Turkcell family in
the presence of Mr. Ahmet Akça, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Turkcell
and Mr. Murat Alkan, General Manager.”
- The achievements of TOBB Women
Entrepreneur Council
Stating
that the TOBB Women Entrepreneur Council is working diligently to increase the
number of women entrepreneurs and to support existing women entrepreneurs,
Hisarcıklıoğlu said:
“In
81 provinces, they mobilized for this purpose. They encouraged our women to
participate in this project. Hatice Kal, President of the Istanbul Board of
Women Entrepreneurs, believed in this project from the very beginning, gave
effort and made it happen. I heartily congratulate all of our Women
Entrepreneur Council, especially President Hatice Kal. Our chamber and commodity
exchange presidents in the provinces involved in this project also contributed
greatly; they supported our women and hosted trainings. TOBB University of
Economics and Technology, İstanbul Gedik University, İzmir Democracy
University, İzmir University of Economics and Konya CC Karatay University
provided support by opening the classes to us. May Allah grace you for your
efforts.”
Today,
it is with great pleasure that we present these awards together with such precious
individuals.
Our
Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan is a successful entrepreneur and a respected
businesswoman. The Minister and I have fought a great battle for 12 years. In
our Women Entrepreneurs Council, we have implemented many projects, including
this project. 10 years ago, the number of women entrepreneurs in our country
was only 75,000, now it is 130,000. Our Women Entrepreneur Councils, especially
with her support, have a large share in this.
We
are especially proud of our Minister, a member of our community.
Our
Minister of Labour, Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, has both a successful academic
background and private sector experience. She has successfully taken on
high-level tasks in many national and global organizations, someone our young
girls should follow. With the Ministry of Labour, she has taken on one of the
most difficult tasks, enabling the implementation of historical support for
employment. She has launched many new incentives for young people and women. We
would like to thank our Minister for all her efforts and accomplishments.
The
very dear lady Mrs. Emine Erdoğan has honored our meeting with her presence. We
know their sensitivities about women very well and follow their work
closely. She inspires us by saying that
politics, economy and bureaucracy without women are incomplete. I would like to
express our gratitude to them for their beautiful vision which guided us. With
the support of Mrs. Erdoğan, we will achieve much greater success from now on.”
- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
wife Emine Erdoğan
President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan stated in her speech that designing
technology is not only a concession area belonging to a certain urban class,
stating “Every confident woman with an idea can see that they can contribute to
the future of the. I hope that all institutions of our country will compete in
the inclusion of women's intelligence in their work. Because it's the only way
to achieve great success. It is a fact that we have a future where the female
spirit will be more effective in the world.”
Emine
Erdoğan, in her speech at the “Women Writing the Future” Award Ceremony held at
Küçükyalı Plaza organized as a part of the “Women Writing the Future” project implemented
by Turkcell and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB),
expressed what a joy it is for her to meet with women who have rolled up their
sleeves to design a beautiful future.
Describing
the women participating in the project as ‘stars shining in the sky,’ Erdoğan
said the growing interest in the “Women Writing the Future” project shows that
women have a lot to say about the future.
Erdoğan
stressed that close to 3,000 women applied for the project based on coding
writing, “All the women who apply have great ideas. Women believe they can
change the world. So I'm sure the interest in this area will grow like an
avalanche in the coming years. We will soon be able to see the signature of
women behind the practices that make life easier.”
Stating
that she congratulated Turkcell and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges
of Turkey at all levels for giving them this joy, Erdoğan said, “You have seen
with a sharp eye the need for women in the field of technology. You have
achieved success in the international platform with this project focusing on
women's empowerment. You were referred to the world as an exemplary project.”
- Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan
Trade
Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said, “We don't just want our women to be entrepreneurs
anymore, we expect them to be producers, not just beneficiaries, in high-tech
product production.”
Speaking
at the opening of the ceremony, Minister Pekcan stated that important efforts
are being carried out in regards to women’s entrepreneurship, they care about
every initiative in this regard, noting the importaqnce of sustainability for projects.
Pekcan,
pointing out the importance of “Women Writing the Future”, stated that the
project continues to strengthen and went on:
“Some
international funds are preparing to support the project. When we said 'We will
teach women coding,’ they did not take it very seriously, especially the
Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, but this project has taken off with the efforts of
women. About 3,000 women have applied for the project so far. Each
participating project has economic value and feasibility.”
- Minister of Family, Labour and
Social Services Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk
Family,
Labour and Social Services Minister Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk stated that it is as
important to increase the qualification of existing potential as it is to
increase women's employment and labor force participation rates, “We strive to
make our women more qualified through our on-the-job training programs,
vocational training courses and entrepreneurship training programs. Women make
up 65% of all participants in our on-the-job Training Programs.”
Stating
that they appreciated TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council and Turkcell’s cooperation
in this regard, Selçuk said they saw the need for new projects and pioneering
initiatives to mobilize production potential in all areas.
- Turkcell General Manager Murat
Erkan
Turkcell
General Manager Murat Erkan said, “Turkey must also use technology to move up
economically. Women account for 50% of the total potential. So we designed
Women Writing the Future to elevate 50% of Turkey's potential.”
Turkcell
General Manager Murat Erkan, in his speech at the ceremony, said that Women Writing
the Future shows what can be done towards becoming a producer of, not consumer
technology.
- Top three
According
to the information given at the ceremony, the winners of 2019 were Şahika Betül
Yaylı and Eda Nur Ersu with their projects named Look.
Second
place was taken by the team consisting of Gamze Hatice Bilen, Derya Uzmay
Okutan and Hazal Çelik, while the third prize went to Büşra Göral with the
DIGI-TAR project.
Ayşe
Sena Kayalı was awarded the Special Jury Prize for her Marine Cleaning Vehicle
project. The winners were presented with their awards by Emine Erdoğan.
This
year, 1,600 women applied for Women Writing the Future, which is being carried
out with the goal of unlocking the potential in the IT sector.
141
projects of women who completed their education competed in the provincial
final, 55 in the semi-finals.
The
10 finalist projects were selected from among the original, commercially
generating ideas that made life easier and made the world look a different way.