Minister of Commerce Ruhsar Pekcan met with members of the Turkish Women Entrepreneurs Association (KAGİDER) via teleconference.
Pointing out that the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic affects the whole world in economic terms as well as in human health, Pekcan said that Turkey is differentiated especially in the field of health.
Reminding that the normalization process has started as of June 1, Pekcan expressed that they believe that the separation in the field of health can also be seen in the field of economy and trade, thanks to the sensitivity of the citizens.
Stating that the expectations for a contraction in the global economy are very high, Pekcan emphasized that the forecast ranges show that the effects of the epidemic on the world economy cannot be fully predicted.
Explaining that the steps to be taken by Turkey and the collaborations with non-governmental organizations have become extremely important in the coming period, Pekcan noted that the country will be distinguished positively in this process with its educated and young population, dynamism, production capacity, proximity to Europe, geopolitical location and quality production.
Providing information about the Ministry’s training programs such as Virtual Trade Academy and Export Academy, Pekcan made the following evaluation:
“Our aim is not only to provide training. We also explain the support of our Ministry in the trainings. In addition, we aim to create the National Women Exporter Network Platform. With our online communications and meetings in the field in the provinces, we support both the Women Entrepreneur Network Platform and the National Women Exporter Network Platform.” “We are working hard to create this.”
“The support of the state is behind you”
Stating that the epidemic revealed the importance of digitalization, Pekcan stated that they have recently implemented very important projects for the digitalization of many activities, especially customs procedures.
Minister Pekcan underlined that they attach great importance to consultation and said that they met with NGOs more frequently in the digital environment during the epidemic period.
Referring to the support of the Ministry, Pekcan said:
“We are aware that business people are going through difficult times. What needs to be done after the pandemic? We should focus on these. As the Ministry, we had 2 important works for women. The Women’s Entrepreneurship Fair and the International Women and Commerce Workshop were to be held. It was postponed due to the pandemic. From now on, we will work together to make the coming process much smoother.” “We need to be able to manage well. The support of our state and the support of our Ministry of Commerce are behind you. It is obvious that we are specially concentrating on women and young entrepreneurs. We will continue our work in this direction.”
Stating that Ur-Development projects should be increased so that SMEs owned by women entrepreneurs can expand abroad, Pekcan stated that the restructuring of global supply chains will be on the agenda after the epidemic, that the Ministry has global supply chain and market entry supports, and that Turkish business people should make good use of these opportunities.
“We are slowly returning to our offices”
KAGİDER President Emine Erdem noted that they, as members of the association, have begun to adapt to the new normal order and said, “We are slowly taking our precautions, making our plans, and returning to our offices. We tried to hold on tightly to our work during the pandemic period. We tried to protect our businesses. We took our precautions and continued our work to turn threats into opportunities.” said.
Explaining that the importance of e-commerce was understood during the epidemic period and that they saw that it will gain more importance from now on, Erdem stated that they, as KAGİDER members, are trying to act in this direction.
Erdem pointed out that the aviation, tourism, accommodation, food and beverage and entertainment sectors were greatly affected by the epidemic, and emphasized the importance of supporting sectors where young people are employed and where female entrepreneurs are concentrated, and making long-term plans in this direction.
