Chronicles of a Wandering Mind

Turkey is a “big” country. 70 million people (compare to the EU population of 456 million). It takes a massive effort to transition a country that size from agricultural era to the information era. As stated by Deniz Gökçe (in Turkish), there are 7 million people working in the agriculture sector in in Turkey (compare to the 10 million in EU). 32% of the population lives off of the Agriculture. Productive is very low. There is massive under/hidden unemployment that goes well beyond the official statistics.
Hence, it is no surprise that there is massive exodus from agriculture. 1.3 million people per year exit the agricultural sector. Turkey also has a very young population, unlike most of the EU. This means signifcant number of people come off age and ready to join the work force every year.

In short, Turkey needs a strategy that will create massive numbers of new jobs every year. Where (in which sectors) will these jobs be created? What are the necessary infrastructural changes to faciliate such growth? What are the obstacles now? These are some of the questions that can help us to begin the analysis.

Lack of foreing direct investment has been identified by many as one of the major issues. It is clear that the level of foreign investment is very low, compared to the similar countries. The legal infrastructure and the somewhat negative sentiment in the society are the primary obstacles. Unfortunately, Turkish public do not yet understand the concept of foreign investment. They are skeptical and do not percieve foreign investment as a “good” thing, despite the fact that “finding a job” is probably the biggest problem in their lives. The connection between “jobs” and investment (foreign or otherwise) has not been made. It does not help of course that the Media is clueless. The level of “ignorance” in Turkish Media is stunning. Some stuck with ideological baggage, still repeating dogma from previous decades, others spewing populist garbage with no care to “think” about what they are saying. There is a great anecdote about the terrible quality of drugs in the beginning of 1900’s saying that if all the drugs of the time were tossed in the sea, it would be better for mankind and worse for the fish! I kind a feel the same way about the Media in Turkey. Too harsh? May be.

The other problem is that the commercial regulations are practically HOSTILE to new businesses. Try to start a new business in Turkey, and you’re hit with so many regulations, “fees”, etc. it is a remarkable feat for any company just to exist! The regulations choke new businesses in their infancy with regulations and taxesm denying many the change to even begin a life and provide much more to both the society and the country later on.

I’ll attempt to demonstrate this point with subsequent posts comparing the first year of a startup in Turkey and in US. I’ve come to realize that many people in Turkey did not realize the extend of this problem. When we live with something for a long time, we consider it “normal”. I believe a comparative look at the process will make it easier to grasp the extend of the problem and how it is one of the major obstacles of growth in Turkey. Stay tuned …