İbrahim Burkay, Chairman of the Board of Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry, met with the council presidents and vice presidents who will serve in the 2022-2026 period. President Burkay stated that the sector councils work with an understanding that 'builds the future, not saves the day', and announced that they will create a strategic roadmap for each sector in the new period.
The new term president and vice presidents of the sector councils structure, which was implemented by BTSO for the first time in Turkey, met at the meeting held at the BTSO Service Building. BTSO Chairman of the Board İbrahim Burkay, BTSO Assembly President Ali Uğur and members of the Board of Directors attended the meeting, where the future of the sectors, expectations and work to be done were discussed.
An Approach that Builds the Future, Not the One That Saves the Day
BTSO Chairman of the Board İbrahim Burkay wished success to the council presidents and vice presidents who will take office in the new term. Noting that they are the first Chamber to implement the council structure in Turkey, President Burkay said, “In 2013, we wanted to create a mechanism where strategic projects would be implemented. We brought together representatives of the business world, academia and the public in our councils, which work with an understanding that builds the future, not saves the day. In the new period, 22 of our councils will operate. We reorganize our council structure in every period, taking into account the changes in the economy. We are building a dynamic structure, not a static one.” used the phrases.
Strategic Roadmap for Every Sector
Emphasizing that the strength of BTSO comes from strong structures, Chairman Burkay said, “Our number of members has reached 56 thousand. We are one of Turkey's largest chambers of commerce and industry. We need to determine the expectations of our sectors well. When our members become stronger, both our city and our country will become stronger. This is only possible with strong structures.” he said.
Expressing that he believes that the sector councils will carry out important works in the new period, President Burkay continued as follows: “We will start a workshop process on the roadmap of the sectors. We have a plan from 2013, but it definitely needs to be revised. After the pandemic, the conjuncture has changed. We need to read this well and reflect it in strategic plans. BTSO is a very important institution for our country in terms of the economic value it represents. By using this potential for our sectors in the right way, we will move forward into the future in the strongest way.”
First Sector Council Structure in Turkey
BTSO Assembly President Ali Uğur said that BTSO, the umbrella organization of the Bursa business world, draws its power from its more than 56 thousand members. Stating that sectoral council structures were created within BTSO for the first time among chambers and commodity exchanges in Turkey to provide more comprehensive services to the sectors and to develop these services, Uğur said, “Representatives of public and non-governmental organizations, industry professionals, academics and BTSO assembly and committee members gathered around the same table. Bringing together our councils, they act as an important platform for the development of sectors and the strengthening of public-university-industry cooperation. In the new period, I believe that all our councils will carry out important works that add value to the sectors, as they have done so far.” he said.
“We Have Great Potential in the Food Industry”
Murat Bayizit, Chairman of the Foreign Trade Council and Deputy Chairman of the BTSO Assembly, drew attention to the development of the food industry in Bursa. Bayizit said, “30 years ago, we were exporting strawberries grown in Uludağ for 50 cents. We are now able to export it for 2 dollars in frozen form, and now for 30 dollars per kilo by drying it. While we talk about agriculture in Bursa, we need to talk about the agricultural industry. There is value-added production in the sector. While exporting only fresh tomatoes and scallions before, many of our companies in the food industry started to export different products with the support of UR-GE. The exports of our companies in the project increased by more than 3 percent in the 25-year period. In this sense, we are getting positive results in the agriculture-based food industry.” made its assessment.
5 Thousand Demands for SME OIZ
Cafer Yıldız, Chairman of BTSO SME Council, said that they aim to increase the share and effectiveness of SMEs in the city's economic growth. Stating that their focus will be on the SME OIZ project in the new period, Yıldız said, “Our demand and application process for the project continues. We visit our business world organizations and share processes with them in a transparent way. So far, we have collected requests from around 5 thousand companies operating in unplanned industrial areas.” said.
Education Council Undersigned Important Works
BTSO Education Council President Gıyasettin Bingöl explained that the Education Council had a successful and harmonious working period. “This is a solution point.” Bingöl said, “We created a very good working group in the last period. We started to work together with all the stakeholders of our sector. We informed each other very well. I take the council structure very seriously. We received a response from both BTSO Management and the state for every issue we brought to the agenda. I believe that all our councils will fulfill their duties in the best way in the new period.” said.
E-Commerce Logistics Center Needs
Ilker Özgüven, Chairman of the E-Commerce and Digitalization Council, drew attention to the retail e-commerce volume reaching 7 trillion dollars and emphasized that there would be a need for an e-commerce logistics center in Bursa. Logistics Council President Ersan Keleş also noted that building a logistics center in Bursa in the new period will be one of their most important priorities.
New Council Presidents
Considering the changes in the economy in the new period, SME Council, E-Commerce and Digitalization, EU Harmonization and Green Agreement, Defense Industry and Aviation, Entrepreneurship and University-Industry Cooperation Councils were added to the structuring of sector councils; The Information Processing and Automation Technologies, Food and Packaged Products and Machinery-Metal Council was also set up with a new vision.
The list of council presidents to serve in the new term is as follows:
EU Harmonization and Green Reconciliation Council Vedat Kılıç
Information and Communication Technologies Council Osman Akın
Foreign Trade Council Murat Bayizit
Education Council Gıyasettin Bingöl
Energy Council Erol Dağlıoğlu
E-Commerce and Digitalization Council İlker Özgüven
Food and Packaged Products Council Burhan Sayılgan
Entrepreneurship and University Industry Cooperation Council Hakan Hacızade
Service Trade Council Turgay Güler
Construction Council Ali Tuğcu
Chemistry Council Ilker Duran
SME Council Cafer Yıldız
Logistics Council Ersan Keles
Machinery Metal Council Serdar Burulday
Furniture Council Mehmet Emin Kasapoğlu
OIZ Council Halil Ersan Özsoy
Automotive Council Renkin Eren
Retail Trade Council Yuksel Tasdemir
Health Council M. Fatih Özkul
Defense Industry and Aviation Council Aptullah Saner
Textile Council Bayram Uçkun
Tourism Council Hasan Eker
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