PROJECT TITLE
Expansion of the European Turkish Business Centres Network - Lot 2 / National Pre-Accession Financial Assistance Programme for Turkey 2005 - Ref. N: EuropeAid / 125171/ D / SER / TR.
FUNDING ORGANISATION
EU Turkey Delegation
CLIENT(S) / BENEFICIARY(IES)
BUDGET
Steinbeis GmbH & Co. KG für Technologietransfer (GER)
DURATION
19.07.2008 - 05.06.2010
TOBB, which previously benefited from various European Union funds, has established ABİGEMs in 15 different provinces of Turkey. The latest branches of the successfully run ABİGEMs was launched in Sivas, Antakya, Batman and Van.
These centres under the Project not only welcome business owners but also entrepreneurs who would like to start new ventures. As a result of the interviews to identify training and consultancy needs in these regions, more than 500 SMEs and entrepreneurs benefited from various services such as expanding to the national and international markets, branding, entrepreneurship, institutionalisation, access to funds and preparing projects for new grant facilities. Over 100 entrepreneurs set up their own businesses after receiving information and consultancy services. Around 150 businesses were supported in their efforts at preparing business and investment plans.
Throughout the project, 7360 people received training on more than 50 subjects with approximately 2000 women entrepreneurs as training participants.
One of the most significant outcomes of the project is the development of the Competitiveness Model. In addition to the Support Model for SMEs and Entrepreneurs, the Sustainability Model prepared will enable the prospective centres to work much more efficiently.
ABİGEMs function as joint stock companies after the Project and continue to support new entrepreneurs in addition to all small to medium-sized enterprises on the subjects they need.
Approximately three million small and medium-sized enterprises employ more than three-fourths of the total labour force in Turkey. SMEs, most of which are family businesses, contribute significantly to the Turkish economy, and thus it is seemingly important to enhance their competitiveness in the national and international markets and to develop their potential and for them to be open and have access to innovation and training.
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
• Management of the Business Centre, including: Overall coordination and implementation of the project and its constituent activities, work planning, time management, organization of team members, allocation of tasks and ensuring effective coordination among them (7 people – 4 Business Service Managers, and 1 Project Assistant and 2 Support staff), TOBB, Malatya Chamber of Commerce, Malatya Commodity Exchange, Inonu University, Malatya 1st and 2nd Industrial Zone Directorates and Malatya Special Provincial Administration
• Qualifying regional innovation ecosystems and technology transfer and research structures as well as reinforcing their connection with the productive system
• Overall coordination and implementation of the training, foreign trade, marketing and innovation departments’ activities and reporting to project management team.
• Supporting training department of Business Centre for preparation of the training programmes, in coordination with Training Needs Assessment – what topics, who were trained, organized and implemented 73 trainings and over 1500 attendees with the assistance of the junior experts.
• Preparing, reviewing and signing-off on all formal reports of the project and being the main contact person for the contractor, beneficiary and stake holders in relation to the project
• Conducting research studies, data collection and analysis for developing capacity reports of public, NGOs and SMEs.
• Delivered consultancy services to 80 SMEs in order to increase their business capacity and EU facility/instrument supporting SMEs and development of process efficiency/productivity services in manufacturing sectors (food processing, machinery, textile, furniture)
• Involved in the preparation of R&D projects, in drafting applications for SMEs to obtain TUBITAK grants, and apply for EUREKA and FP7 projects
• Conducted stakeholder and target group analysis. Through this analysis, the level of awareness about the techno park were investigated among the stakeholders and SMEs
• Facilitating access by the entrepreneurial system to regional, national and international financing for research and innovation
• Organization of “INNOVATION and ABIGEMs” workshops to share experiences between 19 ABİGEMs, stakeholders and SMEs on 31st May 2010
• Number of consultancy advisory sessions provided on provision of business/product development services to SMEs: 270 advisory sessions; 5 counselling for Lean Manufacturing Techniques, 8 counselling for ex-point, 12 counselling for fair coaching program, 245 diagnostic scans for needs analysis.
• Well-structured relations with TOBB ABIGEM Co-ordination Unit, follow-up IMS for traceability of the center services and national ABIGEM policies.
• Improvement of SMEs and SME support or representative organizations covering training, counselling, clustering, internationalization, digitalization of business, innovation, business start-up, entrepreneurship and finance fields with rational sustainability approaches.
CONCRETE RESULTS AND OUTPUTS