Assoc. Dr. Abdüllatif Sener:
“Turkish Economy is Open to Crisis Against the Fluctuation in World Economy”

 
The April 2008 “Business Class” meeting was held at The Marmara Hotel, Taksim, under the chairmanship of Prof. Salih Durer. The meeting, the second in the series, was centered around the topic “Global Economy and Turkey”. The body of 108 participants ranged from prominent businessmen to the presidents of universities such as Maltepe University, Halic University and Istanbul Arel University, and to graduate students from Galatasaray, Istanbul, Marmara, Yildiz Teknik, Maltepe, Kadir Has, Istanbul Ticaret universities. The meeting was broadcasted live over the Internet through “Element Virtual Class” system software of the main event sponsor “Element Education Technologies.” There were 148 online participants from 4 countries as well as different in Turkey. The meeting, where the idea that the business world and interactive Internet working together would increase productivity was also propounded, hosted Assoc. Prof. Abdüllatif Sener as guest speaker.

The main topic of discussion was to facilitate exchange of ideas between  Academia, Management, Businessmen and Graduate Students by bringing them together in an interactive online platform, and to contribute to the recruitment and betterment of prospective managers--graduate students.

The meetings fulfill a social responsibility by helping recruit and fill the gap for quality personnel for the country and thereby contributes to the national economy.

Secretary General of the “Business Class Meetings” Reha Tartici and the chairman Prof. Salih Durer of Yildiz Teknik University said that the meeting was apolitical and that there were both regular and online participants.

“World is changing fast. And we are experiencing the idea of globalism. We are becoming a population of the Net, and take distance at the speed of light. Those who adapt win, those who don't fail. Information, money, merchandise; they all change places continuously. If you have the equipment, it doesn't matter where you are, where you live, be it in the city or in countryside. If you're connected, you get the information and the knowledge. Fast and easy.” said the guest speaker Ã?ener.

Ã?ener also said, “In the old times strength and power were measured by the number of one's enemies. The more enemies you have, the stronger you are, it used to be. Times have changed since. Now you are as strong and as respected as your friends and connections.” He added that “There have been initiatives of industrialization with Europe after the 80s. Since 1989, the capital has been utilized liberally in terms of foreign investment, not only in merchandise and service sector, but also capital-wise. Turkey is a country with a strong flow of foreign currency, hence, affected by international fluctuations. There is an ongoing mortgage crisis in the US now, so are the accompanying financial problems. We are prone to outside effects. So we have to plan ourselves accordingly, taking the global competition into consideration.”

“Foreign initiatives are taking over the service sector. There has to be a limit to this. While I was Assistant Prime Minister, I did not approve of the Galata Port Project for this reason. If we do not cover the budget deficit there will be a financial crisis. There are four sectors in Turkey that are being dominated by foreign capital: Service Sector, Available capacities, sectors with a high profit margin. Banking, Insurance Agencies, Brokers, Wireless Phone Companies, Business Centers, Tollways and Bridges; these are all highly profitable and the money could be used to buy foreign currency to fix the deficit.”

t was brought to attention in the meeting that online interactive solutions are very important in an age where global competition is constantly increasing and societies that keep up with the pace are gaining both economical and social power in the international arena.

Abdüllatif Sener emphasized the importance of working as a whole and said, “We should come up with long-term permanent solutions to problems instead of temporary short-term ones. No single person can come up with a solution to all the problems. We should all work together and find answers to questions like “What kind of an economical policy this country should lead?”