All posts by : İNGEV

SMEs are the most important actors in the Turkish economy in terms of economic growth, exports and job creation. Restructuring can go a long way towards improving these firms’ capacities.

The “SME Growth Program”, in collaboration with International Labor Organization (ILO), will contribute to the restructuring process of small-scale businesses through business development initiatives and financial support. In addition to using local and international networks, attempts to improve digital transformation will take place in order to maximize productivity, as well as improve SMEs’ competitive edge and working conditions.

The first stage of the SME Growth Program provided mentorship services in accordance with the needs of businesses in the business development and digital transformation fields. Mentors will be working with 30 businesses from various sectors in Istanbul, offered 180 hours of mentorship. Designated digital transformation areas will be financed after these mentorship services. During the second stage of the program financial support up to 30,000 TL for eight businesses will be available.

The SME Growth Program is financed by the ILO Office for Turkey.

INGEV accelerated its work to prepare young individuals and women in Turkey for the digital economy. The organization will soon hold technical trainings in fields such as social media management, graphics design and digital marketing for 200 women in order to enhance their employment in the digital space. INGEV will also contribute to women’s recruitment via online career fairs and support services, in partnership with Re-Coded.

Forty women entrepreneurs will be empowered through the entrepreneurial trainings, micro-grants and consultancy support.

Another important aspect of the project will be online communication and social media management trainings to improve digital capacities of the 40 companies led by these women. Additionally, a micro-support package will support these companies to prepare social media management and promotion materials.

The mentorship aid “Entering the Market” to be offered by INGEV Entrepreneurship Support Center will improve women entrepreneurs’ sales, marketing and business development capacities.

INGEV will be conducting the project, “Preparing Youth and Women in Turkey for Digital Economy” in cooperation with Re-Coded and RIZK, and with support from PRM.

Another refugee entrepreneurship project, “A Sustainable Workplace: Turkey,” has paved the way for SMEs to access relevant, accurate, and up-to-date information for challenges they face in Turkish business life in their native languages to help fulfill their business expansion goals.

The project provided information to 2,168 SME representatives via a call support line. Organized in accordance with the themes determined as per SME needs, webinars were also held for 250 persons. In addition, 265 SMEs were provided with business development consultancy, 127 with finance consultancy and 57 with legal consultancy.

Having supported Şanlıurfa’s trade ecosystem with 80 established companies to date, INGEV Şanlıurfa Business Development Center will continue to improve refugee entrepreneurs’ capacities and business ideas with the help of training programs, grants and consultancy services.

And what has been done so far?

A total of 450 SMEs in Şanlıurfa and Kilis were reached throughout the one-year period of the project, and their needs were determined during this time.

Customized according to the SME’s needs, capacity development trainings focused on various themes such as law, finance, digitalization, sales, marketing, management and network development, receiving the attendance and improving business skills of 543 SMEs from both cities.

Within the scope of the highly acclaimed entrepreneurship program, a 20-hour Fundamental Entrepreneurship Training was held with 158 participants. In addition, 83 participants successfully completed 100-hour Advanced Entrepreneurship Training and presented their business plans.

Comprising of different stakeholders, the Grant Committee evaluated graduates’ business plans. Consequently 45 entrepreneurs qualified for a grant to establish their own business and 45 new firms were founded.

Moreover, 81 SME representatives attended Workplace Formalization Seminars, which laid out the steps for formalization, and highlights the importance of and liabilities related to formal workplaces. Licenses were granted for 35 firms, ensuring that they become legal businesses.

Another event, Business Network Development, was organized in Şanlıurfa with the participation of 50 stakeholders and SMEs with the purpose of enhancing communication and collaboration among SMEs, potential clients, stakeholders and universities.

MARUF’21 was held October 1-3, with a focus on “Cities Developing Solutions.” The forum aimed to highlight efforts of those that are working to find solutions to pressing urban issues, as well as evaluate local needs and priorities in light of global trends. Two panels in the forum were supported and hosted by INGEV.

 “The notion that guides all endeavors of local administrations is human development – an idea at its core.”

Held on the first day of the event, the panel “City’s Logbook: Voluntary Local Reviews of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Journey” featured Vural Çakır, president of INGEV. According to Çakır, human development should guide the endeavors of local administrations.

• “Local administrations, metropolitans and districts must be in constant contact with citizens, and involved in their daily lives,” Çakır said. “They must take into consideration SDGs on a daily basis, in addition to internalizing them and adapting them to local needs. They should work as such. Remaining absent in citizens’ lives is the biggest risk.”
• “Localizing goals and indicators is the most critical matter,” he continued. “To be more specific, human development must be impartially measured, which is why local administrations need to be audited by an independent and reliable institution.”
• “Another noteworthy issue is the objective positioning and localizing of data within our daily lives,” he noted. “We are currently working on an open portal to be in service next year that will support local administrations for their 2030 goals, which will be available to all.”

The panel was carried in collaboration with the Marmara Municipalities’ Union, UN-Habitat and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Executive representatives of local administrations from Barcelona, Colombia, Izmir and Sultanbeyli shared their local experiences.

“The refugee issue is a universal issue for humanity, and not just a matter concerning the borders of a country.”

On the second day of the event refugee entrepreneurship was discussed in the panel, “Refugee Entrepreneurs: Pioneers of Development and Social Cohesion”. Opening the panel with his keynote speech, Çakır underscored the fact that issues surrounding refugees are a universal issue for humanity, and not just a matter limited to the borders of a country. Other highlights from Çakır’s speech can be found below:

• “One of the most prioritized fields of study in Berlin and across Germany today is social cohesion,” Çakır said. “Turks’ journey to Germany has a history of 60 years. This is a universal issue, and achieving social cohesion is actually a process that may take years to come.”
• “Refugees living in Turkey are living with us now – they are our new citizens,” he said. “That is why a roadmap must be put in place to improve their contribution to urban employment and to support social cohesion. And we have to stick with this roadmap.”
• “If we look at employment situation right now, we can see that 951,00 Syrians go to work every day. In addition, there are 15,000 companies registered to Syrians and 140,000 work as freelancers. Even so, they have a high rate of unemployment, at 36%.”
• “It is critical to include refugee entrepreneurs to the process, just like the host community, by employing an egalitarian approach to banking and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) financing,” he said. “At the same time, a formula that is not male-dominant must be developed to include women entrepreneurs to the workforce.”
• “Regulations to encourage registered trade activities are needed,” he continued. “The integration of refugees’ entrepreneurships into the supply and trade networks is of paramount importance. Toward that end, city-specific and urban entrepreneurship, vocational and language trainings will be created.”
• “If we want to succeed in social cohesion and development, we must come up with a strategy that is above politics, based on human development and includes the former owners and new citizens for the sake of a peaceful and virtuous city,” he emphasized.

Participants from UN Development Program (UNDP) and the Syrian International Business Association (SIBA) painted the overall picture of refugee entrepreneurship in Turkey in the panel, “Refugee Entrepreneurs: Pioneers of Development and Social Cohesion”, while the second part of the session featured inspiring stories from female refugee entrepreneurs regarding their journeys of trade and of founding companies.

The social, economic and political consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic caused drastic changes on both the macro and microeconomic levels.

While disadvantaged groups were already economically vulnerable long before the pandemic, inequalities and economic difficulties have grown over the course of the health crisis.

In response to the unexpected and significant economic changes brought along by the pandemic, Save the Children Turkey and INGEV updated the 2019 Gender Sensitive Labor Market Assessment for Istanbul in February and April 2021.

The updated study reexamined the labor market, employment opportunities in Istanbul, and vulnerable young Syrian and host-community individuals’ access to jobs.

Read the full report

Organized with the collaboration of INGEV, Habitat Association, TEPAV and TÜRKONFED, the “Are we changing?” platform is preparing for its second big online event.

The platform will focus on the management of natural disasters, and specifically the wildfires seen during the summer both in Turkey and throughout the world. It will take place shortly after the UN Glasgow Climate Change Conference that will be held between November 1 and November 12.

The event, “Fifth Season: Is an Altogether Battle against Disasters Possible?” will highlight three critical themes: How are disasters managed across the world? What should be done to create an action plan in this country? What are our specific needs in Turkey? Additionally, Turkey’s approval of Paris climate agreement and also the effects of Glasgow Climate Change Conference will be the other milestones of the event.

Calling out to all climatists!

Online Event participation details coming soon!

Sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic, social distancing and lockdown measures have changed the daily activities of many individuals. Even though digitalization has helped ease the transition, several studies focused on MSMEs have found that while some are successful in digitalizing operations, others see a fall in investment.

Through the Private Sector Digital Monitor study, INGEV examined MSMEs’ level of digitalization and their needs. The study surveyed a large sample of enterprises, including those that are both locally and foreign-owned.

The purpose of the study was to reveal the extent to which private sector companies are able to access the benefits of digitalization, especially during the pandemic. The study also reported findings regarding potential gaps and areas for improvement in this field.

There were three fundamental recommendations to overcoming obstacles to digitalization:

1. Competence Gap: There was a lack of awareness concerning various technologies, or not knowing how to access them;
2. Financing Gap: Insufficient funding to use such technologies; and
3. Governance Gap: There was a lack of long-term and in-depth strategy development. Many had digitalization strategies that only responded to customers’ short-term needs – such as marketing and the follow-up of orders or complaints – or used it as a marketing strategy so as to not fall behind competitors.

Click to For Host Community Enterprises
Click to For Enterprises Established by Syrians in Turkey

The Human Development Monitor– conducted by INGEV and Istanbul Bilgi University’s Faculty of Communications – aimed to investigate perceptions of social cohesion and common good, the latter of which is defined as decisions, methods, measures or activities that benefit the whole community or a majority of its members.

To work towards the common good, individuals should consider not only what is good for them but about the welfare of other members of society when making decisions. The study found that the perceived common good is notably poor.

The research study revealed that the majority of the Turkish public said, “People [in our country] violate the rules when it aligns with their interests.” Another significant finding was the widespread idea that rules are not followed unless there are sanctions, with 58% of respondents reporting so. The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated these feelings.

Authored by Professor Halil Nalcaoglu (Dean, Istanbul Bilgi University, Faculty of Communication), the white paper based on the Human Development Monitor examines the relationship between trust and understanding of common good in Turkey, and presents an assessment on how these affect the response against Covid-19.

Please click on the link below to view the report…