25.10.2017
The Domestic and National Production Ecosystem Project Development Workshop was held at the Central Campus of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority. Hosted by BTK with contributions from OSTİM and KOSGEB, the workshop was attended by BTK President Dr. Ömer Fatih SAYAN, OSTİM President Orhan Aydın, KOSGEB President Prof. Dr. Cevahir Uzkurt, and public and sector representatives.
DOMESTIC AND NATIONAL PRODUCTION PASSES THROUGH R&D
WE NEED TO DEVELOP OUR CAPABILITY IN EXPORTING HIGH VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS
•Additionally, there is the export of software products, which are of interest to the majority of producers here, and we cannot measure the value of these products in kilograms. At this point, as our esteemed Prime Minister said, “Intellectual Sweat” becomes important, and the value of “an idea” can be measured in millions of dollars. Therefore, we need to develop our capability in exporting high value-added products.”
DOMESTIC PRODUCTION WILL PROVIDE GREAT CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR COUNTRY
Dr. Sayan stated that the progress to be made in domestic production will not only reduce imports but also provide great contributions to our country and companies in terms of exports: “Our localization efforts will also open export doors for us, and our ‘Turkish-made’ products will be exported especially to new markets like the Middle East and even to mature Western markets. It is not difficult to predict that the current account deficit will be significantly affected in the direction of reduction with both the decrease in imports and the increase in exports. Producers as well as operators have important duties in achieving these goals. They need to analyze the needs of the sector well and use their production power correctly. Thus, we foresee, and continue to foresee, that a production ecosystem oriented towards the electronic communications sector can be developed by ensuring supply-demand balance.”
AS BTK, WE ARE WORKING TO INCREASE AWARENESS
Ensuring the increase of awareness among all stakeholders forms the backbone of our efforts,” he said.
Emphasizing that the design and production of the ULAK 4.5G base station, which is of great importance in reducing our country's external dependency on mobile communication network equipment and thus the current account deficit, have been achieved, Dr. Sayan stated, “Especially after the 4.5G authorizations, we have made significant progress in domestic production. In this context, the first example that comes to mind is the ULAK project. As a result of intensive efforts carried out with both the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries and the companies in the consortium, we now have a product ready for use.
Sayan concluded his speech by hoping that the workshop would lead to important collaborations for correctly positioning our production capabilities and increasing our production capacity to produce products needed by our country and other countries in the world for the good planning of our future.
WE NEED TO INCREASE THE SHARE OF DOMESTIC AND NATIONAL PRODUCTION
In his speech at the opening program, OSTİM President Orhan Aydın stated that the entire communication system should be produced in our country with software and technology through domestic and national means. Aydın, who noted that they came together under the name of Communication Technologies Cluster with relevant institutions and organizations, said, “We have formed Turkey's national team by bringing together all of Turkey's capabilities and potentials, and we want to use this potential while producing our own needs.”
KOSGEB President Prof. Dr. Cevahir Uzkurt, in his speech, underlined the need to increase the share of domestic and national production by reducing our external dependency for the future of our country. He expressed that they aim to brand these high value-added products we produce and export these Turkish-made products to other countries as a country that has the power to produce any goods and services when needed without being dependent on abroad.
Finally, BTK Vice President Gazali Çiçek emphasized the need to declare a national mobilization by bringing together public institutions, private sector, civil society organizations, and universities for domestic and national production in the telecommunications field. He stated that their goal is to make the entire network in accordance with international standards through domestic and national means.