Tugba Birgul
Stating that there will be a major change in economic policies after the 2023 general elections in Turkey, Eskişehir Chamber of Commerce (ETO) Chairman Metin Güler said, “The new economic administration preferred a tight monetary policy and the steps required for this policy are being continued. A tight monetary policy also brings high interest rates.”
Pointing out that the capital needs of businesses have increased due to the high inflation rate, Güler said, “While this is the case, our merchants, industrialists and tradesmen are forced to meet their capital and financing needs with high interest rates. On the other hand, our companies are worried about losing their competitive power due to the new taxes, incentives and the shelving of some tax exemptions on the agenda.”
2023 will heal our wounds It’s been a year since we wrapped
Reminding that inflation in Turkey is expected to be around 46 percent by the end of 2024 and 28 percent by 2025, Güler continued his words as follows: “There is a clear view in economic circles that there will be an interest rate cut by the end of this year or next year at the latest. We hope that with the decrease in interest rates, merchants and industrialists will be able to access financing under more favorable conditions.
However, in the time until this period, new formulas need to be produced for businesses to survive, and priority needs to be given to financing businesses for the continuity of investments and employment. Getting the economy back on track is not just about economic decisions. We are also aware that structural reforms that will be carried out within a broad framework, starting with rule-based management, are essential. We believe that our country will carry out these reforms today just as it has done in the past.”
Güler, who said that 2023 was a year when the whole country came together to heal the wounds of the earthquake, said, “As the Eskişehir Chamber of Commerce, we had to postpone the completion of our new service building project to this year due to the earthquake disaster. However, we aim to make up for the time in between and complete our new service building in 2025.”
We anticipate that the demand contraction in the domestic market will continue.
Stating that half of 2024 has been completed, ETO President Güler said, “I believe that the tight monetary policy will continue for the rest of the year and inflation will decrease with the base effect, but it will not decrease enough, and the demand contraction in the domestic market will continue. In terms of industry, we can say that our companies have difficulty competing with the world, and despite the increase in exports, profit rates have decreased due to the increase in costs.”
Emphasizing that industrialists have never had difficulty accessing human resources before, Güler said, “In most of the industrial facilities in Eskişehir, blue-collar personnel cannot be found to work in production. We expect the public to carry out more effective and widespread vocational training activities, especially through both vocational high schools and İŞKUR, in order to meet the need for intermediate staff.” He spoke about the expectations of the business world.
Our aim is to bring 1 million visitors to the exhibition center.
Drawing attention to the fact that the center of gravity of Eskişehir’s economy is the service sector, Güler said, “As ETO, we put Eskişehir Fair Congress Center into service in order to develop Eskişehir’s service sector and make tourism more efficient by supporting it with congresses and fairs.
“We hosted 1.6 million visitors through the fairs, business meetings, congresses, culture and art events we held at the ETO TÜYAP Fair Center and Vehbi Koç Congress Center that we put into service for this purpose,” he said, continuing his words as follows: “We provided approximately 4 billion TL added value to the Eskişehir economy with the events we held.
We are very pleased with the revival of our service sector’s business during fair and congress periods and the increase in the trade volume of our members who open stands at fairs. Our new strategic goal as ETO is to bring 1 million visitors to Eskişehir Fair Congress Center (EFKM) annually by 2030. When we achieve this goal, the contribution of our Eskişehir Fair Congress Center to our city’s economy will increase even more.”
“We are extremely pleased with the commercial activity experienced in the city during the fair periods, the peak of hotel occupancy rates, and the increase in business in our entire service sector, especially in businesses operating in the restaurant and advertising sectors,” said Metin Güler, adding that Eskişehir has become a very ambitious city in the sector despite being new to fairs.
Güler said, “This year, our ETO Tüyap Fair Center in Eskişehir hosted the Book Fair. In addition, an Agriculture Fair and an Industry Fair will be held. In addition, we will prepare the ground for our small-scale businesses to cooperate with industry giants with the B2B Bilateral Business Meetings that we will organize simultaneously with the Industry Fair. Our chamber’s new strategic goal is to bring one million visitors to EFKM annually and contribute more to the city’s economy.”
On the other hand, Güler, who explained that they are working very hard to develop e-commerce and e-export, which have become inevitable in today’s trade, said, “For this purpose, we provide technical support and consultancy services to SMEs who want to do e-commerce or further develop their existing trade through the E-Commerce Working Group we established with the participation of our members and our project Eskişehir E-Commerce Center. Our aim is to carry Eskişehir to the top ranks in our country in terms of e-commerce.”
METSEM played a key role
Güler, who announced that they put the Eskişehir Chamber of Commerce Vocational Testing and Certification Center (ETO-METSEM) into service in 2016 to provide examination and certification services in the field of mining, stated that they continue to add value to the mining sector as a partner of Turkey’s largest mining organizations and continued his words as follows: “One of the most important conditions for sustainable economic development in Turkey and the world is to bring together qualified labor force and the business world. Eskişehir Chamber of Commerce Vocational Testing and Certification Center aims to develop Eskişehir’s capability in the mining sector and increase Turkey’s mining exports.
In this context, ETO-METSEM will guide the mining sector in Turkey and has become the first institution authorized for certification in the sector. ETO-METSEM has assumed a key role in ensuring that our country’s mining sector reaches European standards and fulfills occupational health and safety qualifications.”
Underlining that they believe that entrepreneurship has a very important role in the development of our country’s economy and that they continue to coordinate the TOBB Eskişehir Provincial Women Entrepreneurs Board based on this idea, Güler explained that they support the activities organized by the TOBB Eskişehir Provincial Women Entrepreneurs Board in 2023 and contribute to the development of women’s entrepreneurship and employment in Eskişehir.
18 trainings and 16 seminars were organized with ETO Academy
Expressing that they attach great importance to corporate and professional development, Güler said, “18 trainings and 16 seminars were organized by ETO Academy in 2024. Our ETO Academy will continue to open new horizons for our members and employees of member businesses with the corporate and professional trainings and personal development seminars it organizes.”
Explaining that they have carried out a series of studies to make the working lives of their members easier and to enable them to reach new markets, Metin Güler provided the following information: “Within the scope of domestic fair visits, we brought our members together with 19 fairs organized in Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya and Bursa.
More than 300 of our members visited the fairs with the organizations we organized. In addition, our members benefited from our Eskişehir Chamber of Commerce Mediation Center for their legal disputes. We opened the doors of Europe to our members in 2023. Our Visa Office unit, which operates within the framework of visa facilitation agreements we have made with the Hungarian, Italian and French Embassies, provided long-term visas for business trips to our merchants, industrialists and employees of our member businesses.”
Source: www.dunya.com
