Turkish companies do not have a global mindset. Public support mechanisms trail behind the global standards and fail to adapt to global developments.

Turkey still has way to go in opening up to the world. Let’s admit that Turkey is an introverted country.  Our Ottoman ancestors were not like that, however. They used to rule an empire that was open to the world. They kept a close eye on world developments, in an effort to make Istanbul the center of the earth. Because of this, even the fall of the empire lasted for a century. Turkey has yet to completely overcome the trauma of losing the empire. It has become introverted.

We have to admit that we do not have a good grasp on what is going on around us. Under these circumstances, the technology companies of Turkey cannot find ways to develop. If you are unable to envision the future, your strategies get stuck in the past. Public support mechanisms and the development vision of the private sector move within a short spectrum. We say, “my way or high way.” We do not accept that there are other ways.

This attitude has two consequences, if you ask me. First, Turkish companies do not have a global mindset. Second, public support mechanisms trail behind the global standards and fail to adapt to global developments. On the first one, I do not mean that Turkish companies have shut their eyes to the world. They have been opening up since Turgut Özal’s time. They are aware that there is life outside of Turkey. Turkey has around 60,000 manufacturing companies, and 48,000 make exports. In other words, three out of every four manufacturing companies sell their goods to the world. True, export destinations change in a year or two year’s time, but they do have an interest in the rest of the world. But their interest in opening up to the world does not rely on a global growth strategy. They do so only when they have to; when domestic market conditions are unfavorable or when there is an incentive scheme to benefit from. They are not pulled to different export destinations by a growth strategy, but pushed by domestic circumstances. Is this good? If you ask me it is from the past century. Turkish business people go overseas with their product catalogue, seal the deal, and immediately book a return flight. They engage with the rest of the world not to establish growth prospect, but to sell their inventory and bring the money back. What is more, they do not even realize that this is a mistake, but are happy about succeeding in this twentieth century business model.

The second consequence of this attitude relates to public policy. The other day, a friend of mine who owns a  technology company and who wants to open up to the world told me how hard it is to hire someone “who is able to design a strategy for 10 years later, instead of simply responding to market changes.” Let’s say that you were lucky enough to convince Mark Zuckerberg to live in Istanbul for two years and work for your company. Can you arrange that? Hardly. For starters, take Law Number 4817 on Employing Foreigners. According to this, you have to hire five people of Turkish origin for every foreigner you employ. Think about it: innovative and big ideas flourish in micro-businesses, composed of a small group of people. Say that four friends come together with the prospects of developing an innovative idea. The group has one member from Turkey, which is perfectly fine. The second member is Mark Zuckerberg, and for him to be involved in the business, five more Turks must be hired. The third member of the group is from Iraq and the fourth is from Mongolia; each of which are the best in the field. For these bright minds, however, you need to employ 15 people from Turkey. Excluding yourself, the business has to employ 14 extra Turks in order to legally employ the three foreigners in the project. And your micro-business is now an inflated enterprise of 18 people! The mentioned law has been in place for more than decade and no one is complaining about it. What can you say? All that comes to my mind is that Turkey and Turkish companies are closed to the world and, occupied with yesterday’s issues, lack the time and the vision to imagine tomorrow.

Turkey cannot be one of the top ten economies of the world with this mindset. This is a reminder from me so that you not have to waste your energy on it. Islam forbids waste, you know.

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 24.09.2013