According to a recent survey on entrepreneurship by Amway Europe, the Turks and Swiss top the list for entrepreneurial spirit in Europe. The research indicates that in both countries 50 percent of the population has a positive attitude toward establishing their own businesses. Another encouraging finding came from the Global Entrepreneurship Index 2010, which places Turkey, with 8.6 percent, in 28th place, ahead of countries such as the US and Germany; the figure indicates the ratio of people out of one hundred adults who have set up businesses.
And according to the report “Entrepreneurship in Turkey 2010,” the rate of institutional entrepreneurs among the 18-64 age group has more than doubled: The rate, which was 4.8 percent in 2008, increased to 10.7 in 2010. Turkey takes ninth place, its rate of entrepreneurs setting up business for the first time being 5.1 percent, among the 24 countries surveyed. The author of the report, Esra Karadeniz, assistant professor at Yeditepe University, said at the Second Global Entrepreneurship summit in İstanbul on Dec. 4 that the figures indicate that the number of entrepreneurs in Turkey has risen and that the enterprises have gained a lasting character in the economy.
According to Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, president of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), following the transformation the Arab countries have been going through, a new order is to appear in the Middle East, in which Turkey will have an important role. “And in that process Turkey will come out as the center of entrepreneurship in the region,” said Hisarcıklıoğlu in his speech at the summit.
The government, in an effort to encourage those with an entrepreneurial spirit, offers financial support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through the Small and Medium Industry Development Organization (KOSGEB). And from now on, KOSGEB will give greater support to encourage innovations and innovative enterprises, Mustafa Kaplan, president of KOSGEB, announced at the summit. Another important step is the quite recent foundation of the Council of Entrepreneurship, for which KOSGEB will act as coordinator. The council’s task will be to help develop a spirit of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activities and to plan for the elimination of obstacles faced by entrepreneurs.
In order to enhance the climate of investment, the share allocated from the central budget to development agencies in Turkey has also been increased considerably. In 2008, the figure was TL 40 million, in 2009 TL 171 million and TL 445 million in 2010, while for 2011 the amount is TL 450 million. The agencies also get financial support from local sources; the figure, which was TL 111 million in 2010, is expected to reach TL 215 million in 2011.
For Hayati Yazıcı, Minister of Customs and Trade, entrepreneurship is a key factor if the economy is to grow in a healthy way. To facilitate things for the entrepreneur, the procedure required to set up an enterprise has been simplified, which in turn has shortened the time and cost needed to establish a business. “Thanks to the amendments to the law, a business enterprise can now be set up in a six-stage process within six days, while an entrepreneur needed in 2001 to go through 19 stages, which would take about two-and-a-half months.” Yazıcı noted at the summit.
Turkey aims to have an export figure of $150 billion in 2012 and reach $500 billion in exports in 2023, the 100 anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey. Zafer Çağlayan, minister of economy, said they wanted to create 100,000 exporters to realize the targeted export figure by this anniversary. Talking about the potential Turkey has, “Being a country with an average age of 28 and a population of 74 million is an advantage for Turkey. Every year 700,000 young people graduate from university. The number of mobile phone users is 66 million, while 35 million use the Internet. Turkey is no longer what it used to be; with the 17th largest economy in the world and sixth largest in Europe; Turkey now has self-confidence.” Çağlayan boasted. Promoting exports is a task that can be achieved only through entrepreneurs. That’s why the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) puts great emphasis on efforts towards creating the spirit of entrepreneurship. And it seems that the Turkish people are becoming more entrepreneurial. Turkish businessmen participated in 2,500 fairs last year. The efforts seem to be giving positive results, given that Turkey’s yearly export figure was $31 billion dollars 10 years ago, a figure which Turkey now realizes in a three month period. Ten years ago the number of exporting firms in Turkey was 25,000, but now the figure is 50,000. Eight provinces had an export figure of over $1 billion 10 years ago; now there are 15 provinces. Some 20 years ago, about 90 percent of Turkey’s exports consisted of agricultural products, and the remaining 10 percent was industrial products; but now the picture has been reversed.
But Turkey also has its problems in the area of entrepreneurship. Women’s participation is low compared with other countries; although Amway Europe’s survey finds Turkish women most willing to set up their own businesses.
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Source : todayszaman.com
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