26.01.2021 Ankara
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) Digitalization Virtual Fair began with the opening speeches of TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu and Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan.
In
his speech, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that at the fair they opened online, they
brought together the companies that stand out in digitalization with companies
and entrepreneurs who want to improve themselves in this regard, and that they
aim to create and develop collaborations between them with one-on-one meetings.
Emphasizing
that the whole world has entered a very rapid digital transformation process
with the pandemic, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We have adapted to many technologies
that will take years in a few months. The videoconference that has become an
immutable part of our lives today is a good example of this. Traditional trade,
on the other hand, is also changing, and E-commerce in particular is gaining
momentum. And finally, fairs are also shifting to digital. In 2020, almost all
fairs and delegation organizations were cancelled or postponed. At this point,
Our Minister of Commerce, Mrs. Ruhsar Pekcan, stepped in and implemented the
virtual fair application. It also ensured that our business world adapted to
this in the fastest way. Now all our companies can easily display their
products and production capacities here.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu,
who explained that as TOBB, companies are doing many activities to be least
affected by the pandemic and digitization, said, “We met with 115,000 members
in the webinars we organized in 2020 and discussed digital transformation,
R&D and innovation. We introduced nearly 10,000 entrepreneurs to e-commerce
with e-commerce trainings and offered e-commerce support packages with the
collaborations we developed. We held Turkey Technology Meetings in more than 70
provinces and increased their capacity by scoring the digital score of SMEs.
With the 'Smart SME project' that we will launch soon, we will bring our
digital transformation services companies together with our SMEs on a single
platform.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that the new normal from now on is to carry out virtual events in
harmony with physical activities, i.e. to have a hybrid structure, “Digital
transformation means getting a step ahead in international competition. To
promote, market and deliver the product or service in all corners of the world.
In this context, we will continue our activities for our members to step into
the new normal throughout 2021.”
In
this context, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that a total of 100 companies from the
technology producing and exporting sectors such as Telecom, Software and
E-Commerce participated in the virtual fair, which they opened today with the
slogan 'Journey from Traditional to New Normal', “Our participating companies
will introduce the applications they have developed for digital transformation
to our companies and entrepreneurs in the 2-day fair. In addition, webinars and
bilateral meetings will be organized throughout the day, allowing our companies
to access the information they will need in the digitalization journey, while
potential cooperation opportunities will be evaluated. Hopefully, it will be
productive and beneficial for everyone.”
-
Trade Minister Pekcan
Trade
Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said, “We have ensured that e-commerce is included in
our newly issued Product Safety Law.”
Minister
Pekcan said that as the Ministry of Commerce, work is also being carried out
for the development of e-commerce in an institutional and robust infrastructure
in Turkey, “We are increasing the engagement of the e-Commerce Information
System, ETBİS, every day. Currently, the number of sites registered with ETBİS
is 23,487. Similarly, our e-Commerce Trust Seal application, which we carry out
together with TOBB, is ongoing. To date, 22 e-commerce sites have been approved
for the Trust Seal. We are continuing our efforts to increase this number. As a
very important development in our electronic commerce infrastructure, I would
like to underline that our market surveillance and audit activities will also
be launched in e-commerce. We have ensured that e-commerce is included in our
newly issued Product Safety Law. In this way, the healthy development of
electronic commerce can be ensured; we have completed the legal infrastructure
of product security in e-commerce in order to ensure that inspections for
product safety are carried out in electronic markets as well as in physical
markets.”
Minister
Pekcan stated that updating the Customs Union between Turkey and the European
Union would be of great benefit to the inclusion of the services sector and
investments, especially e-commerce, in the Customs Union, said, “Let’s begin
this process which serves the shared interests of Turkey and all EU member
countries. Let's create new opportunities for our companies at the point of
services sector and mutual investments. Undoubtedly, at such a critical time
when we are struggling with the effects of the pandemic, new economic openings
between Turkey and the EU will bring significant gains to both sides.”