08.03.2021 Ankara
The March 8th International Women's Day Event of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) was held with the participation of Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu and TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council President Nurten Öztürk.
Speaking
at the opening of the event, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that
as TOBB, they hold the opinion that women must be in all areas of life, and
that hard work and success have no gendered.
Emphasizing
that they oppose discrimination and prejudices against women, Hisarcıklıoğlu
said, “We have expressed with a strong voice that women's entrepreneurship
should be supported. We want equal opportunity. We have argued at every
opportunity that women should take an active role in a wide range of sectors,
from business to the academic community, from social life to politics.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that if they are given the opportunity and not hindered, there is nothing
that women cannot achieve, and from this point on, under the leadership of
TOBB, they launched Turkey's Women Entrepreneurship story in 2005 and completed
their organization work in 81 provinces in 2007.
The
TOBB President explained that they have implemented the councils where women
are represented in each province, “In the past, our women entrepreneurial councils
have done great work and become an integral part of our Chamber-Exchange
system. Today, our TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council has become one of the
largest women's networks in the world with 7,000 members, organizing thousands
of entrepreneurship activities in 81 provinces. Our entrepreneurial councils organize
solidarity activities in each province, provide training and mentoring
services, and work day and night to increase the number and employment of women
entrepreneurs. They promote successful women entrepreneurs as role models. They
set an example for our young girls and enabling them to enter the business
world.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that the number of women entrepreneurs is now approaching 140,000 from
75,000 in 2007, and that the TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council has contributed
greatly to doubling the number of women entrepreneurs in Turkey in the last 12
years.
- Support for women entrepreneurs
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that as TOBB, they provide support to women entrepreneurs in all kinds
of fields and will continue to do so.
“We
aimed to prepare them for the digital world so that they are more effective in
e-commerce. We carried out the “Women Writing the Future” project with
Turkcell, with which more than 3,000 women learned to code. Now we're launching
AI training. In this context, we organize programming, machine learning,
artificial intelligence and robotic process automation trainings for women.
With
the “My Sister” project we started with Coca-Cola, we have increased the
technological competencies of women. For this purpose, we have trained more
than 30,000 women. We have contributed to the digitalization of business processes.
In addition, we have provided grant support to women entrepreneurs with the
'Local Flavor Grant Program' organized in 81 provinces.
In
collaboration with Facebook, we have organized trainings for more than 5,000
women entrepreneurs to market their products through social media. In addition,
in partnership with Türk Telekom and the United Nations Development Program, we
launched the 'Life is Easy on the Internet' project. We have provided trainings
to our women entrepreneurs in the fields of e-commerce and financial literacy.
With
the grant we received from the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, we have determined the strategic roadmaps of the Women
Entrepreneurs Councils in three provinces. Now we're spreading it across the
country. With the pandemic, we have moved all our trainings online. We saw
participation over 4,000 for our certified e-commerce trainings held in June
and November.
By
making agreements with e-commerce marketplaces operating nationally, we have
ensured that our entrepreneurs receive advantageous packages. For the first
time, we have introduced low commission sales opportunities to our e-commerce
entrepreneurs.
Today,
on occasion of Women's Day, we will sign a new project so that our TOBB Women
Entrepreneurs Council members can benefit more from the e-commerce ecosystem.
With the e-commerce marketplaces we will cooperate with, we will provide
special, year-round commission discount, advertising and marketing support,
cargo support, training and consultancy services to TOBB Women Entrepreneurs
Council members.
In
addition, in order to reach more visitors, we will create a special space for
our TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council members together with the marketplaces. In
this field, our women entrepreneurs will be able to both showcase their
products and tell their success stories with short videos.”
- “We will continue to produce
projects”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that TOBB KGK President Nurten Öztürk started work very quickly after
taking office on September 27th, “With her hard work, energy and
vision, she raised the bar for success of our Council greatly. I would like to
take this opportunity to wish her success and thank her for her efforts.”
Reminding
that the gender equality report of 81 provinces was announced with the “Gender
Equality” report prepared in cooperation with TOBB, the Industrial Development
Bank of Turkey and TEPAV, Hisarcıklıoğlu said: “Based on this report, all our councils
have planned and implemented their actions on gender inequality. These studies
will lead to the development of entrepreneurial culture among women.
As
you know, our hospitality, food and beverage and transportation sectors have
been very negatively affected by the pandemic. By initiating hygiene awareness
in these sectors, the 'Our Business Clean Project' has been launched in order
to contribute to the safer service of our micro enterprises and thus to
increase their business volumes. We aim to make the project, which will be
piloted in 3 provinces, widespread throughout the country and permanent.
In
addition, we will continue to work and produce projects for our women to take a
more active role in social life and especially in business life. Because both
the world and our country will be better with the efforts of women. When given
the opportunity and we men don't stand in their way, there's nothing our women
can't accomplish.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
asked women entrepreneurs to increase the number of women entrepreneurs as role
models for young girls in their provinces.
- “I reject and condemn all forms
of violence against women”
Emphasizing
that brutal attacks on blameless innocent women deeply injure everyone, the
TOBB President said, “One in three women are subjected to physical violence in
their lives. In 2020, 300 women were killed and 171 women were found
suspiciously dead. Awareness, measures and penalties need to be increased.
Violence against women has no place in any religion, race, opinion or language.
I reject and condemn all forms of violence against women. I expect the thugs to
be held accountable for their atrocities and punished in the most severe way.”
Noting
that men and women are equal partners, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “If there are
women, there is a future. If there's a woman, there's life. I celebrate
International Women's Day on March 8th for all our women, believing
that women's day is not just one day and half of life is women.”
- Minister of Commerce Ruhsar
Pekcan
Trade
Minister Ruhsar Pekcan stressed that women's care and women's sensitivity
always play a big role in the development of the individual's life, as well as
in the development of social life, and always deserve recognition.
Pekcan
stated that all mankind is trying to interpret life with a rethink, especially
with the Covid-19 pandemic, “Women's labor, women's sensitivity and care play a
big role in building a more prosperous future for humanity, together with
women's vision and women leadership.”
Stating
that it is natural for women to appear in almost every field of science and
economy with the contributions of favorable environments, opportunities and
ecosystems, she said that one of the most important factors supporting the role
of women in the economy today is that the global economy continues to develop
based on digitalization, innovation and new generation technologies.
Pekcan
stated that they see that it is now easier for self-employed women or
cooperatives that use women's labor to achieve economic success by using
technological facilities, e-commerce. As I mentioned, women's leadership and
women's support are vital in the development of women's status. In this
context, the success of leading figures such as you in the field of women
entrepreneurship, who have taken part in such critical platforms as TOBB Women
Entrepreneur Board, will directly touch the lives of many of our women.”
Pekcan
stated that as the Ministry of Commerce, they aim to bring women to the
forefront in light of the new needs and approaches created by the 21st
century in all their policies and activities, and that they carried out their
work for women by the “Women and Youth Entrepreneurship Export Department”,
which they established within the General Directorate of Exports and focused
exclusively on these issues.
“To
date, we have included approximately 2,500 women entrepreneurs in our Turkish
Women Entrepreneurs Network. We have brought together approximately 1400 women
entrepreneurs in 47 provinces with our meetings in these networks. In this
context, I would like to underline that we will continue to support network
solidarity among our women entrepreneurs in the future.”
Minister
Pekcan stressed that as the Ministry, they will continue to support our women
and women's entrepreneurship through their projects and work.
Pekcan
stated that TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council is one of the most widespread,
important and experienced platforms in terms of women's entrepreneurship in
Turkey. “I think it is just as important that we act in coordination and
cooperation with NGOs and other institutions as the government and TOBB Women
Entrepreneurs Council. I believe that together we will be more successful by
converting our power, unity and energy into synergy.”
- TOBB KGK President Nurten Öztürk
Nurten
Öztürk, President of TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council, explained that she and
the provincial presidents visited Anıtkabir today and said, “We promised to
grow women's entrepreneurship, to be a role model for our young girls who have
started life in entrepreneurship and to direct them towards entrepreneurship.
With faith, hard work, bold steps, together we will fulfill our promise to Atatürk.”
“A
society, a nation, consists of two kinds of people called men and women. Is it
possible that as long as half of a society is chained down, the other part can
rise to the heavens!”
Nurten
Öztürk emphasized that equality does not mean sameness. Equality only makes
sense in a context where there is difference. The demand for gender equality is
not a demand for women to be the same as men, but to have the same rights.”
Öztürk
said that the data in “Turkey's Gender Equality Report Card in 81 provinces”,
prepared in cooperation with TOBB, the Industrial and Development Bank of
Turkey and the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey, enables them to
develop projects.
Öztürk
stated that although low participation of women in the workforce may seem like
an important problem for Turkey, she actually thinks this is an important
opportunity to move Turkey forward, “As you know, research shows that women are
successful in every field they enter, make a difference and contribute
positively to the financial performance of companies. In order to increase the
contribution of women to the economy, institutions, organizations, the business
world, all of us have duties. We can't do it alone, we need projects that work
together to achieve the desired levels with innovative and sustainable results.
I want today to be a milestone, we are ready to do whatever it takes to
increase women's employment and entrepreneurship.”
Öztürk
stated that the whole world is going through bad times, adding, “A study
published by the United Nations Women's Unit found that the pandemic has put a
great deal of pressure on women and jeopardized 25 years of progress in gender
equality. Unfortunately, it is a fact that the pandemic affects women more and
more negatively. Women's return to the workforce is expected to decrease after
the pandemic; we will not allow it. Even though our path is difficult and long,
there is no giving up.”
Nurten
Öztürk, “TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council, as Turkey's entrepreneurial women
power, we say 'If There Are Women, There Is Tomorrow'. Happy March 8th
International Women's Day.”