İZMİR – Anatolia News Agency
Women entrepreneurs in Turkey’s western provinces are being given a chance to sell their products online, in a virtual shop within the popular e-commerce site Gittigidiyor.com.
Ten products to be sold on the site will be selected from each of eight provinces, allowing the new initiative to debut with a total of 80 products. The selection of these items will be made by a committee formed from the women entrepreneurs’ boards of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges, or TOBB, in each city.
Aegean Chambers of Industry, or EBSO, board member Berkay Eskinazi said he hoped the project would spread to other regions of the country to create new opportunities for women entrepreneurs nationwide.
Emphasizing the importance of women’s participation in the local economy, Eskinazi noted the low overall level of female employment in Turkey – 28 percent, as opposed to 57 percent in EU countries – and the limited number of women in management roles. Women make up 7 percent of all managers in Turkey, compared to 33 percent in EU countries. These figures, she said, show that Turkey still has a long way to go to bring women’s employment and entrepreneurship up to the desired levels.
TOBB and the EBSO are organizing the e-commerce project in the Aegean provinces of Afyonkarahisar, Aydın, İzmir, Manisa, Muğla and Uşak, and in the Marmara provinces of Balıkesir and Çanakkale.
The announcement of the project followed a workshop titled “The Aegean Region’s Women Entrepreneurs: Opportunities and Strong Sides,” organized with the joint efforts of the TOBB Women Entrepreneurs’ Boards of the eight cities under the guidance of the group’s İzmir Provincial Women Entrepreneurs’ Board.
The project aims to integrate urban and rural areas and particularly to create a model in the Aegean provinces for women entrepreneurs all over Turkey, said İzmir provincial board Chairwoman Seza Yorulmaz.
The women entrepreneurs whose products will be displayed on the website will also be trained about sales and funding issues, and those who want to establish their own businesses will be given further support, said project coordinator Cüneyt Örkmez.
Representatives from Gittigidiyor.com said the company was very motivated to participate as much as it can in social responsibility projects.
Project targets
According to a written statement from EBSO, the project involves opening a Women Entrepreneurs web portal and the number of products for sale will be gradually increased from 80. The project will allocate funds for promotion activities that aim to get more women entrepreneurs involved in the project.
Depending on the sales volume, handicapped women or women in shelters may be asked to aid in the production phases as a way of integrating them into business life.
The ultimate aim of the project is to bring women entrepreneurs in the Aegean region together under the roof of institutions such as unions, associations or cooperatives, and to give seminars to rural woman to create awareness about the importance of entrepreneurship.
(Source: www.hurriyetdailynews.com )