TÜRKONFED has initiated the "Resilient SMEs, Strong Tomorrows" project in cooperation with the Netherlands-based non-governmental organization SPARK with the aim of developing a culture of working together in the business world and increasing the resilience of SMEs against the economic effects of natural disasters and pandemics. Beneficiaries will participate in matching and coaching meetings as well as various trainings for eight months throughout the project, where a total of 50 SMEs, 25 of which are Turkish and 25 with Syrian capital, operating in Turkey will be selected. Within the scope of the project, financed by Qatar Fund for Development, 30 thousand TL will be provided to each of 50 companies, 1.5 million TL in total, with the aim of improving digital transformation processes and eliminating the infrastructure deficiencies identified in the training processes of the project. The application deadline for the project is February 26, 2021.
1.5 Million TL Support to 50 SMEs!
14 February 2021 / Istanbul - Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TÜRKONFED) has initiated the “Resilient SMEs, Strong Tomorrows” Project, in cooperation with the Netherlands-based non-governmental organization SPARK in order to increase the communication of SMEs with Turkish and Syrian capital and thus develop a culture of working together. Within the scope of the project, financed by Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), 30 thousand TL will be provided to each participating company,1.5 million TL in total. The fund will be used to improve digital transformation processes and to eliminate the infrastructure deficiencies identified in the training processes of the project.
Orhan Turan: "We aim to increase the resilience and cooperation culture of SMEs”
TÜRKONFED President Orhan Turan said, “As TÜRKONFED, we determine the needs of SMEs through field studies, and then we implement various projects to develop solutions for these needs. With the Resilient SMEs, Strong Tomorrows project, we aimed to bring together SMEs with Turkish capital and Syrian-owned SMEs that have established businesses in our country, thereby developing a culture of working together. With the project, we also aim to increase the resilience of SMEs against disasters and pandemic crises, to support digital transformation processes, to ensure social integrity, to increase economic inclusion and to prevent loss of workforce."
Special trainings and meetings for SMEs
Four main fields of activity have been determined: training, webinar, matching and coaching meetings. At the beginning of the project a training program, within the framework of the need's analysis in a macro level at the beginning of the project, will be prepared to increase the capacities of participating SMEs. Six different webinars will be open to the general participation as well as the project participants, where the evaluations of the project goals will be observed, and information and experience will be shared. 25 SMEs with Turkish capital, 25 with Syrian capital operating in Turkey will be matched by various criteria such as sector growth targets and co-operability.
On the other hand, coaching meetings will be planned considering the structure of participating companies and their growth and digitalization needs. Thus, an action plan will be prepared for each participating company in line with its short- and long-term goals and infrastructure needs.
Available to SMEs from all sectors
The project, which is open to the application of SMEs operating in all sectors without any discrimination, can be applied to on TURKONFED's website until February 26, 2021. The participants of the project will be determined within the framework of the criteria determined by TÜRKONFED and SPARK.
Further details about the project and the application form can be found at: