OSTİM Board Chairman Orhan Aydın was a guest on the SME Platform program presented by Murat Ovucu on A Para Television. In the program, Aydın first discussed the region's history and its current production and project capabilities, and then answered a question regarding support for SMEs, giving messages about the functions of these support mechanisms.
“Support should be complementary”
President Aydın, noting that significant efforts have been made in recent years, particularly towards the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and the improvement of their technologies, drew attention to the imported inputs in the intermediate goods of exported products.
Aydın stated: “There are incredible types of support available in Turkey for almost every area, but despite all this, we are forced to meet our needs from abroad. We import many of the inputs for the products we export, which we call intermediate goods. Currently, the Ministry is undertaking serious work on this. We also value it; there is a very serious effort towards the localization of intermediate goods. The President of KOSGEB made a very good statement in a newspaper; that we will support the areas that will close these gaps. This is very important. We don't have to support everything or do everything, but we especially need to be able to produce technological products in our country. This means we need to be able to produce the intermediate goods we import in Turkey. Support should be provided in a complementary and holistic manner. A lot of effort has been put into this in recent years. It is important that all support mechanisms, such as TÜBİTAK, KOSGEB, Development Agencies, and the Ministry of Trade, communicate with each other.”
“Decision-makers must be on the ground”
Pointing out that SMEs have benefited from many support programs in recent years, Orhan Aydın emphasized that production is a very important and challenging process. “You need to bring together many components like tools and equipment to produce, to live, to develop; to survive and stay afloat. This is a multi-faceted and complex business. Now, the most important issue threatening us in Turkey is: should I produce or should I earn money by doing nothing?” said Aydın, adding that those who produce should be placed in a separate category.
Underlining the need to roll out the red carpet for producers, the OSTİM President continued: “Because these people are truly the ones carrying the burden, enduring the hardship. We need to appreciate them very much. Sometimes even a ‘well done’ is an encouragement. Dealing with their problems and standing by them is also a form of support. We attach great importance to this. Currently, all the articles, support policies, and discourses in Turkey are based on this. But whether this translates to the field, to the streets, is something that needs to be examined. There are times when much of what is being discussed doesn't reach the streets.”
We have many intermediary institutions like chambers of industry and TOBB (Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges). We use these institutions to bring our problems to higher levels. I think it would be more effective to reverse this a bit, and instead of listening to these institutions in hotel halls, to go directly to the field, to enter the SME's doorstep, and ask: "What's your situation, friend? What are you doing here? How are you doing it? What do you want? What are you expecting?" Finding the direct recipient and identifying the problem there would be more effective. In this sense, the bureaucracy and decision-makers need to be in the field. They really need to discover Turkish industry and Turkish SMEs. I see problems in these areas.
“Industrialists want to see their production reflected in the public sector.”
We occasionally voice our concerns here. Decision-makers, in particular, may not be fully aware of Turkey's industrial and production potential. This lack of self-confidence prevents them from immediately resorting to imports. They say, "I don't know if this is being done in Turkey, I can't trust it. I'm not aware of how much is being produced here," and it becomes much easier for them to buy from foreigners because it's risk-free. No one questions them when they buy from foreigners. They want to see the public sector benefit from their own production.”
In Turkey, we have established domestic manufacturers in the field of rail systems; Orhan Aydın, emphasizing that light rail, metro, and high-speed trains can be produced domestically, stated, “‘Why does Turkey import these from abroad?’ We cannot find the answer to this question, for example. Why do we import them from abroad? Why do we import them when we have companies and industrialists in Turkey that can produce them? The decision-makers haven't visited those companies, they haven't gone to the local level to identify them. Currently, one of our companies is importing locomotives from abroad. We are sending faxes to the Ministry. We are looking for a way to say, ‘These locomotives are made domestically. They are made at TÜLOMSAŞ in Eskişehir. Why are you importing them from abroad, brother!’ If we cannot achieve this in public procurement, to whom and how will we sell them? Here, the public procurement policy is very important. The preference of local administrations and the public sector for local and domestic products in procurement is a very important leverage for us. The whole world applies this, but we say, ‘We will buy from wherever we like, wherever we want, without any effort,’ and we do.”
“The company in OSTİM has a global presence”
In the final part of the program, Orhan Aydın, evaluating the 4th International Industrial Cooperation Days in Defence and Aerospace (ICDDA), organized by the OSTİM Defence and Aerospace Cluster (OSSA) between October 23-25, 2018, pointed to the Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) as the most important actor in the successful level reached in the sector. He reminded that the SSB supports the sector and develops policies to solve its problems.
Aydın stated: “On the plane you’re flying on, there are products from OSTİM. When you ask, ‘How is this possible?’, you’ll see that it’s thanks to the efforts of the Presidency of Defense Industry. When you ask, ‘Do these companies need the SMEs in OSTİM?’, the answer is yes! We saw this very clearly in the presentations at ICDDA. The companies in OSTİM have a global presence. They can produce and sell goods of that caliber.”
We held the fourth ICDDA. We organize it every two years. Major industries from all over the world come to Turkey, and all SMEs in Turkey come here as well. It's entirely the target audience, entirely the players in the sector. Within the framework of this event, business people schedule appointments with each other. 5,700 business meetings were held. On the first day, there were nearly a thousand people in the hall. Company owners, military personnel, and civilians from 60 countries participated. It's an event designed directly for doing business. It's business-focused. I personally heard the feedback from most of the participants; they said they had many meetings at this event, that they were able to meet people they wouldn't have been able to meet otherwise, and that they were able to find people right next to them whom they might not have been able to reach even after days of waiting for appointments. We believe we are making a significant contribution to our country.
Our companies have benefited greatly from this and will continue to do so. The third event was after July 15th. We brought companies to Turkey with great effort. The number of participants and interest is increasing with each event. It is a concrete example of the success of SMEs in Turkey. We are proud when we see our companies producing in the world. Installing a part in an airplane or a tank is not an easy task. The companies in OSTİM do it and sell it in the same way that the world does. Our parts are in satellites, airplanes, tanks, and on the battlefield, and we do this with our companies in OSTİM.”
“THE HERO IS THE ONE WHO PRODUCES”
We need to differentiate between those who produce and those who sit idly by, depositing their money in the bank, and those who work at their production lines. These two are not the same people! Under these circumstances, those who produce are true heroes. Therefore, we all need to revolve around them and be at their service. We have no other choice. With the current interest rates, it is very difficult for these people to produce. Moreover, I emphasize that the main manufacturers are proposing a policy of converting orders given in Dollars and Euros to Turkish Lira, shifting the risks onto small businesses. I want to state here that this is absolutely wrong. On the contrary, we, as the state, need to take on the risks of small businesses and producers. It is not the small businesses that should bear all the risks to keep them alive. We need to leave them with minimal risk so that we can say, "I'll take the risks; you produce, sell, and export to the whole world."
You can watch the broadcast recording below.
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