The topic of April edition of Bilgi Cagi magazine is the ‘small and medium sized companies’ also known as SMEs. The magazine deals with the challenging environment for the SMEs which are taken into granted as the engine of the economy by representing approximately 99% of the industry.
According to 2003 Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data, 89% of the Turkish SMEs are micro SMEs. Also, according to 2002 TUIK data SMEs constitute 76.7 % of total employment and 26.5% of total investments, and 38% of total added value. However, there are many constraints and difficulties for the SMEs in the business sector.
Leyla Arsan, TAGES CEO and author of the magazine, highlights the problems that the SMEs face and emphasizes the situation for the Turkish SMEs. As Arsan states Turkey is the second country that has the largest number of SMEs with the less turnover (less than 150.000 € per year) among the European countries. The problem for the SMEs is that they can not increase productivity with the qualification of the present labour and in the case of hiring more qualified people profitability decreases despite the rise in productivity. As the surveys illustrate the most important constraints and difficulties for the Turkish SMEs encountered in the last two years are purchasing power of the clients, employment costliness, and lack of skilled labour.
Bilgi Cagi takes attention to the opportunities provided for the SMEs both at national and European level. As Arsan states, since the SMEs are dynamic and flexible, it is necessary to
direct SMEs to the R&D activities. There are funding opportunities for the innovation and R&D activities of the SMEs provided by TUBITAK, TTGV, KOSGEB and the Ministry of Industry. At the EU level there are also many funding opportunities for the SMEs such as EU 7th Framework Programme, Eurostars and Eureka, CIP Programme. The magazine explains these funding opportunities for the SMEs.
SMEs Cooperates in Networks
Gündüz Ulusoy, Sabanci University Competitiveness Forum director, takes attention to the role of the cooperation networks for innovation and sustainable development of the SMEs in the competitive environment. With the cooperation networks the companies share their know-how and expertise, merge their financial resources and decrease the cost of production and innovation. TAGES has know-how and expertise related to the cooperative networks and network management. TAGES has coordinated EU funded Virtual Enterprises for Integrated Industrial Solutions (VERITAS) Project on behalf of Machine Manufacturers Association for the Turkish part. The project led to the formation of a comparative study on Turkish and Austrian Cooperative Networks. As this study illustrates, both of the parts believe in the concept of cooperative networks and they are willing to build networks. However although Turkish SMEs think that trust is the most important in cooperative networks and bilateral agreements, Austrians believe that there are rules and contracts which are more important than trust. Moreover, Turks are 100 % optimist in cooperation although Austrians are 100% pessimist. This shows different approaches to the networks based on cultural conditions.
Bilgi Cagi watches the situation of the Turkish SMEs and presents the stories of SMEs who have successfully developed R&D projects and benefited from the national or European R&D project supports. It also presents the future funding opportunities for the SMEs with open calls for proposals.
Bilgi Cagi watches the situation of the Turkish SMEs and presents the stories of SMEs who have successfully developed R&D projects and benefited from the national or European R&D project supports. It also presents the future funding opportunities for the SMEs with open calls for proposals.
Bilgi Cagi magazine also deals with the new R&D legislation in Turkey. It takes the views of different sectors on the legislation.
To read more about the SMEs you may look at Bilgi Cagi Magazine:
TAGES is one of the main contributors in Bilgi Cagi magazine which is published monthly with a vision to watch R&D and innovation processes of Turkey where the target mass is public organizations, NGOs, private sector, universities and all parties responsible for the R&D and innovation improvement of Turkey.
