Economic Problems and Solution Methods Workshop
A workshop titled “Economic Problems and Solution Methods” was held at the Yeditepe University İnan Kıraç Conference Hall.
Istanbul Technical University (İTÜ) Faculty of Management, Department of Management Engineering faculty member Prof. Dr. Öner Günçavdı said, “The Turkish economy is globalizing with 20 percent of itself in the world. 20 percent of the Turkish economy produces traded goods, 60 percent produces non-traded goods. Countries have entered into serious competition to globalize and integrate with the world. When it comes to value creation, they have not shown the same performance.”
In the workshop, financial markets in Turkey and the economic problems affecting financial markets were examined under headings such as “Corporate Governance and Economic Development,” “Macro Economic Outlook,” “Employment and Development,” “The Real Estate Sector and Its Problems,” “Monetary and Fiscal Policies,” “Financial and Economic Growth,” “Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Policies,” and “Technological Developments.”
Speaking at the workshop, Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Management, Department of Management Engineering Prof. Dr. Öner Günçavdı stated that populism is a much-discussed topic and that in Turkey, it is discussed more in its political dimension rather than its economic dimension.
Günçavdı noted that the economic dimensions of globalization are very important, especially in countries like Turkey, that globalization has a serious impact on the economic structure, and that economic activities produced in the economy are automatically divided into two.
Stating that the Turkish economy is globalizing with 20 percent of itself in the world, Günçavdı said, “20 percent of the Turkish economy produces traded goods, 60 percent produces non-traded goods. Countries have entered into serious competition to globalize and integrate with the world. When it comes to value creation, they have not shown the same performance. To create value, these globalizing countries have increasingly turned inwards to grow. This is a paradoxical situation. You are both globalizing, saying you will be a part of the world, but when creating value, when creating growth, you condemn yourself to domestic economic activities. The sectors subject to exports and imports have a set of rules. These rules can be universal. You cannot isolate yourself from them too much. When you reach a certain point, the international system can impose these rules.”
“A Significant Portion of the World’s Population Still Lives Below the Hunger Line”
Former Central Bank Governor, İYİ Party Ankara MP Durmuş Yılmaz stated that a very small part of the world’s population has caught the disease of overconsumption in the age of abundance, and a significant portion is still living below the hunger line.
Yılmaz pointed out that the most important problem for today’s societies, regardless of whether they are developed, developing, or undeveloped, is income-generating, unemployment-reducing growth and fair sharing, saying, “Technology has eliminated some professions, that’s true, but it has created more. Productivity, in other words, efficiency, is the key to success in economic and social fields such as economic growth, development, permanent welfare increase, competitiveness, and the reduction of unemployment and poverty.”
Tabit Smart Agriculture Technologies Inc. Vice Chairman of the Board Coşkun Yıldırım also stated that food production and agriculture should be kept separate from other sectors and policies should be developed accordingly.
Yıldırım stated that for agriculture to be sustainable, there is a need for the farmer’s “ancient knowledge” and “traditional knowledge,” and said, “The farmer is not just producing, they are a person with ancient knowledge, and that ancient knowledge is being lost. If we do not protect it, the farmer will leave agriculture. There are 570 million farmers in the world, and 90 percent of them are family farmers, 10 percent are industrial farmers, and they meet 80 percent of the world’s food.”
Yılmaz drew attention to the fact that when the long-term growth and development experiences of countries are taken into account, productivity is not a result that emerges on its own, but a “process” shaped as a result of the “conscious actions” of actors in the public-private sector, such as policy development, resource allocation, and implementation. He emphasized that achieving high growth rates is as important as the sustainability of that growth.
Yılmaz recalled that according to a study conducted within the CBRT (Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey) using the Growth Accounting method, the low increase in total factor productivity played an important role in the Turkish economy’s weak growth performance until the 2000s, and commented, “As a result of industrialization and scientific developments, the world economy and world population have grown very rapidly in the last two centuries. While this growth has contributed to social welfare, it has created a significant cost on natural resources and the environment. A greener economy is beneficial and necessary not only for Turkey but for all countries of the world.”
“We Have Problems in Managing Credits on the Consumer Side”
Istanbul Medipol University Faculty of Business and Management Sciences Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aysel Gündoğdu noted that in a period when liquidity increased in the world, the rate of borrowing in foreign currency increased, businesses resorted to taking loans when they found cheap resources, and when foreign exchange shocks occurred, all of them failed in some way.
Reminding that there is rapid growth in consumer loans, Gündoğdu made the assessment, “We have problems in managing credits on the consumer side, on the banking sector side. The issue is the increase in commercial loans. If we are expecting a return from the bottom, this needs to increase. Because then companies will be able to restart activities and employment can be created.”
“A National Innovation Model is Being Tried to be Created in Turkey”
Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Prof. Dr. Feride Gönel stated that the national innovation system has started to become quite popular for a while both in Turkey and in European Union countries, noting that national innovation is a recurring concept in the field of economics and business and has re-entered the policy scene.
Gönel, reporting that there are many definitions of national innovation and that a national innovation model is being tried to be created in Turkey, said, “Within the definition called 3rd generation innovation, it is a matter of having actually taken very diverse factors into account. The model of considering all stakeholders such as the economy, trade, and education together and simultaneously, in mutual interaction, is valid.”