The "4th SMEs and Informatics Congress," organized in collaboration with the Turkish Informatics Association and the Turkish Foundation for Small and Medium Enterprises, Freelance Professionals and Executives (TOSYÖV), was held under the auspices of the Information Technologies and Communication Authority.
Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, who attended the opening of the program, stated in his speech that, just like in the rest of the world, one of the most important drivers of the economy in Turkey is the manufacturing industry, and emphasized that they have observed that countries that have developed through industrialization and achieved economic success have developed a vibrant and active manufacturing sector.
Pointing out that SMEs, which constitute 99.8% of active companies in Turkey, are the main source of economic growth and business development, Sayan said, "Compared to 7,000 large companies operating in the industry and services sectors in our country, there are 3.2 million SMEs. Our SMEs, the main engine of our economy, account for 72% of employment, half of total turnover, and 37% of total exports."
Recalling that supports such as procurement conditions for SMEs were provided in the 3G and 4.5G tenders, Sayan said, "We brought a decision that large companies in the telecommunications sector must procure at least 10% of their infrastructure investments from SMEs. But unfortunately, both our SMEs and large companies found ways to circumvent this. Large companies imported themselves and then sold to the companies they would purchase from through our SMEs. To prevent this, we changed the SME procurement condition to SMEs that manufacture in Turkey and create added value."
Stating that both localization and nationalization rates have increased over the past period, Sayan said, "Although the procurement rate from SMEs in the telecommunications sector is still not at the level we want, we are trying our best to support SMEs by increasing the procurement rate from producing SMEs."
Sayan added, "Especially in marketplaces, we see that foreign-sourced marketplaces have emerged as the dominant force in the market. It would be beneficial to proceed in a balanced manner here as well. Every company that pays taxes in Turkey is a Turkish company. We continue our efforts to establish competition and distribute market shares in a balanced way with this awareness."
President Karagözoğlu: Our Aim is to Increase the Added Value Produced by Our SMEs
Information Technologies and Communication Authority President Ömer Abdullah Karagözoğlu also stated that SMEs form the backbone of the Turkish economy and noted that the e-commerce sector, which has become one of the main sectors as a result of the increased digitalization along with the pandemic period, holds an important place both in the world and in Turkey.
Referring to studies examining Turkey's startup ecosystem, Karagözoğlu stated that 165 startups received $139 million in investment last year, and pointed out that information and communication technologies are at the center of the digital world.
Looking at Turkey's international position technologically, Karagözoğlu noted that the country has an upward trend in areas such as the prevalence of mobile networks, the quality and variety of services provided to subscribers, broadband development, and investments in fiber.
Emphasizing that everyone needs to work harder to make SMEs more efficient and thus more competitive by widespread use of information and communication technologies, Karagözoğlu said, "As an institution, we have contributed to umbrella formations such as the Telecommunications Technologies Cluster to support SMEs, especially in domestic and national electronic communication devices, equipment, and software. We have also made facilities like the 5G Valley Open Test Field available to our SMEs. Our aim is to increase the added value produced by our SMEs and enable our domestic companies to produce more high-tech products for our networks with the agility provided by being SMEs."