The State Supply Office (DMO), which meets public needs quickly and effectively, organized a Sector Meeting in OSTİM to increase the domestic content of the products it procures and to enable SMEs to contribute more to the economy, and answered the questions of industrialists.
The meeting was attended by DMO General Manager and Chairman of the Board Levent Şahin, Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) President Nurettin Özdebir, OSTİM Board Chairman Orhan Aydın, and numerous SME representatives. Here are some highlights from the speeches given at the opening of the meeting:
ORHAN AYDIN - CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF OSTIM:
Public procurement is used as a strategic lever for industrial development all over the world. Local governments and public procurement are tools in the industrialization of countries.
We appreciate the efforts of the DMO (State Supply Office) in recent years and its approach to SMEs. This effort is valuable to us.
In Turkey, the public sector makes purchases worth $148.4 billion. This is a very significant figure. The DMO's share is $3.5 billion; this is a small figure, we need to increase it. It's not just about purchasing products; the development and integration of domestic products into the system is necessary.
Public procurement needs to be transformed into a support mechanism for domestic products.
There is a reverse mechanism in the Iller Bank (Provincial Bank) that supports foreign products.
Free market rhetoric is a trap that developed countries are setting for developing countries.
We need to get our act together. We must find ways and methods for the development of our country.
The OSTIM SME pool has no product that cannot be made or produced here.
I observe that our colleagues at DMO share the same sensitivity.
NURETTIN OZDEBIR - ASO PRESIDENT:
The services provided by DMO and the new decisions it has made are extremely important.
Regarding the preference for domestic products in public procurement, our President, while he was Prime Minister, issued three circulars. Later, it was enacted into law. Despite all this, we are facing significant resistance. Public procurement is a tool of social policy. The public sector is the largest buyer and allocates resources to certain areas through these procurements.
It is one of the most important incentive mechanisms for strengthening sectors and competitiveness.
DMO can make R&D-based procurements. Products that incorporate the features developed by my industrialists. Therefore, their productivity, profitability, and competitiveness in the world increase.
Let's add up the sectors produced in our country, such as services, manufacturing, and agriculture; we have created 100 lira worth of value in this country. In return, there are products imported from other countries.
When we take 10 lira from that 100 lira value and put it into imported goods, the difference is 20 lira. Every product we import, every penny we pay to foreigners, costs us twice as much. We talk about current account deficit and external debt; This is becoming a problem for our country. We call this vulnerability.
LEVENT ŞAHİN - GENERAL MANAGER AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF DMO:
We attach importance to the OSTİM region. The SME Catalog is not a system driven by DMO's profitability. We are awaiting applications for the SME Catalog, which will benefit our small-scale industrialists.
DMO is an institution established in the 1920s. Its areas of activity have expanded over the years. While its closure was on the agenda in the early 2000s, its share in total public procurement reached 15 percent. We believe it should have a leverage effect, especially for domestic producers.
There are difficulties in the commercialization phase of R&D. Companies cannot enter the market; foreign competitors prevent this. They prevent them from entering the market. Our Techno Catalog application will start in March. We will give space to companies operating in Technoparks and enable them to participate in public procurement.
Within the scope of Attraction Centers, our Attraction Centers Catalog will be launched in March. There, too, certain advantages will be provided to domestic products.
