08.05.2020 Ankara
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu in regards to the Digital Service Tax this year by the government, “We demand that the tax rates be reduced for e-commerce platforms that digitize our SMEs and bring their services to consumers.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
attended the digital launch meeting of the solidarity campaign “e-Commerce Stands
with SMEs,” held with the participation of Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak has the world in
its grasp, and that Turkey's efforts so far have been successful.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
expressed that the Ministry of Commerce has given power to the country and the
business world with measures taken against the crisis, pointing to the
importance of the work done in this process.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
noted Pekcan’s call on e-commerce companies and to support SMEs two weeks ago,
recalling that e-commerce sector stakeholders announced support programs in answer
to this call.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
explained that even small businesses began to sell products to all of Turkey by
cargo during the epidemic process, “There is a rule of trade. If there is a
crowd, there is a market and opportunity. Electronic media is now our new
market, our new opportunity. We need to make good use of this opportunity.
Retail e-commerce volume reached 83 billion liras in Turkey. Electronic commerce
grows by an average of 35% a year.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
underlined that by accelerating digital transformation, SMEs' products and
services should be brought together with the needs of consumers, and that as
TOBB, they extoll the importance of e-commerce and e-exports on every platform.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that they have carried out 71 activities in this field so far, teaching how
to trade online to more than 68,000 SMEs and the benefits of digitalization, “Our
biggest strength as Turkey is our SMEs. Our SMEs will adapt to the new era. Our
task here is to pioneer this process, to speed it up.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
noted that the trust seal given to e-commerce sites is an important step in
this field, emphasizing that thanks to the institutionalization of e-commerce
with trust seals, they aim to eliminate the lack of trust consumers experience when
shopping online.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
said that the government has commissioned the Digital Service Tax this year, “There
is only one rate of tax for all digital service providers through turnover. I
think there's an injustice here. That's why we demand lower tax rates for
e-commerce platforms that digitize our SMEs and provide service to consumers. I
forwarded this request to Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak last
week at the Meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Committee. As
Minister of Commerce, I believe that you will follow up on this.”
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Minister Pekcan
Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan also noted the
importance of digitalization in terms of the transformation of the Turkish
economy according to the requirements of the age.
Pekcan expressed that they attach importance
to digitalization and automation in ministry services and update their work, “We
are pleased to be one of the most effective uses of digital technologies in
almost every area where we operate from our services in customs to state
supports, from administrative services to our tradesmen to the education
support services we provide to all our citizens.”
Pekcan stated that the new type of coronavirus
(Covid-19) outbreak once again demonstrates the importance of adapting to the
digital economy, and said that they will continue to contribute to the
country's progress towards becoming a digital economy.
Pekcan stated that they are continuing the
development of projects and applications in innovative areas such as machine
learning and blockchain technologies, “Unlike many countries, instead of the
wait-see approach in the next generation of technologies, we proactively
evaluate our options together with the private sector.”
Explaining that they have started to implement
applications such as virtual trade delegations and virtual fairs, Pekcan said
that they have already established the infrastructure of innovative approaches
for the period after the Covid-19 outbreak.
Pekcan also mentioned the Virtual Trade
Academy platform, so far 17,238 people have registered with the academy and 2,345
people completed the trainings and have received their certificates.
Pekcan noted that work is also continuing on “National
Women Exporter Network Platform” and “Angel Investor Network” projects.
Pekcan noted that “e-Commerce Stands with
SMEs” campaign aims to introduce more SMEs to e-commerce, as well as to
encourage the more qualified use of internet and e-commerce, “We aim to bring
solutions to our small businesses that are suffering from marketing shortages
through this campaign. We want our SMEs to grow and institutionalize through
e-commerce and enjoy the fruits of their labors. We hope that local products
and local producers will be able to market their products with efficiency
through e-commerce and get added value.”
Pekcan emphasized that they will follow up on the
project as the Ministry in order to achieve the goals of the campaign, “I
invite our SMEs to benefit from the opportunities brought by this campaign. I
always invite all our companies, SMEs, to explore e-commerce opportunities and
to adopt digital technologies. As the Ministry of Commerce, we will always
continue to be a supporter of our companies.”
Pekcan expressed that e-commerce provides
great opportunities for businesses to reach potential customers on a global
scale comprehensively, quickly and effectively, “Our citizens' interest in
e-commerce is increasing. In this context, we welcome the proliferation of our
domestic companies in our country, from online platform providers to payment
systems and logistics distribution providers, developing strongly with all
elements of the system. It is not difficult to assess that Turkey can be an
important and decisive actor in the global e-commerce market when we take into
account the tendency of our citizens to use the internet, the geopolitical
strategic position of our country, and especially our young and dynamic
population.”
Pekcan, pointing out that the Ministry has
done important work focusing directly on the field of e-commerce, said they
have created the Electronic Trade Information System (ETBİS) to increase
confidence in this area.
Noting the importance of being reliable in
e-commerce, Pekcan said that in order to increase the number of e-traders and
the volume of e-commerce, the perceptions of trust of consumers should be
maintained.
Pekcan noted, within the scope of the
campaign, e-commerce sites, infrastructure providers and payment organizations
will become members of e-commerce sites or increase existing e-commerce
activities, which will provide new financial and technical conveniences to SMEs;
she thanked the industry organizations which support the campaign.
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Organizations which support the campaign
The campaign is supported by 16 electronic
commerce sites, 3 electronic commerce infrastructure providers, 2 virtual
markets, 1 virtual food service, 2 payment organizations and 1 non-governmental
organization. The organizations are: Sahibinden.com, Yemeksepeti.com,
Amazon.com, Gittigidiyor, Getir.com, Hepsiburada, Arçelik, Cimri.com, N11.com,
Trendyol, Akakçe, Safamerve, Modanisa, Migros Virtual Market, Epttavm,
Globalpiyasa.com, Ideasoft, Electronic Trading Enterprises Association, İpara,
Farmasi, Chemorbis, Steelorbis, Stemia.com, Mutlubiev.com and Platinum Market.