A workshop titled "Economic Problems and Solutions" was held at Yeditepe University İnan Kıraç Conference Hall.

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Faculty of Business Administration, Department of Business Engineering Prof. Dr. Öner Günçavdı said, "Turkey's economy is globalizing with 20 percent of the world. 20 percent of Turkey's economy produces traded goods, 60 percent produces non-traded goods. Countries have entered into a serious competition in order to globalize and integrate into the world. They have not shown the same performance when it comes to value creation." 

In the workshop, financial markets in Turkey and economic problems affecting financial markets were examined under the headings of "Corporate Governance and Economic Development", "Macro Economic Outlook", "Employment and Development", "Real Estate Sector and Problems", "Monetary and Fiscal Policies", "Financial and Economic Growth", "Agricultural Economy and Agricultural Policies" and "Technological Developments".

Speaking at the workshop, Prof. Dr. Öner Günçavdı from the Department of Management Engineering, Faculty of Business Administration, Istanbul Technical University, said that populism is a much debated issue and that it is discussed in Turkey not in its economic dimension but rather in its political dimension. 

Günçavdı noted that the economic dimensions of globalization are very important especially in countries like Turkey, that globalization has a serious impact on the economic structure and that the economic activities produced in the economy are automatically divided into two.

Expressing that Turkey's economy is globalized with 20 percent of the world, Günçavdı said, "20 percent of Turkey's economy produces traded goods, 60 percent produces goods that are not traded. Countries have entered into a serious competition in order to globalize and integrate into the world. They have not shown the same performance when it comes to value creation. These countries that globalized in order to create value have increasingly turned inward in order to grow. This is a paradoxical situation. You globalize, you say that you will be a part of the world, but when you create value and growth, you condemn yourself to domestic economic activities. The sectors subject to exports and imports have certain rules. These rules can be universal. You cannot isolate yourself from them too much. When you reach a point, the international system can impose these rules."

"A Significant Part of the World Population Still Lives Below the Hunger Line"

Former Central Bank Governor IYI Party Ankara Deputy Durmuş Yılmaz stated that a very small portion of the world's population has been infected with the disease of overconsumption in the age of abundance and a significant portion of the world's population is still living below the hunger line.

Yılmaz pointed out that the most important problem of today's developed, developing and undeveloped societies, regardless of their category, is income-generating, unemployment-reducing growth and fair sharing, and said, "It is true that technology has eliminated some professions, but it has also created more. Productivity, in other words productivity, is the key to success in economic and social areas such as economic growth, development, permanent welfare increase, competitiveness, reduction of unemployment and poverty." Coşkun Yıldırım, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tabit Smart Agricultural Technologies AŞ, stated that policies should be developed by keeping food production and agriculture separate from other sectors.

Yıldırım stated that in order for agriculture to be sustainable, the farmer's "ancient knowledge" and "traditional knowledge" is needed and said, "The farmer does not produce, a person with ancient knowledge and ancient knowledge is disappearing. If we do not take care of it, farmers will leave agriculture. There are 570 million farmers in the world and 90 percent of them are family farmers, while 10 percent are industrial farmers, who provide 80 percent of the world's food." Yılmaz pointed out that productivity is not a spontaneous result, but a "process" that is shaped as a result of "conscious actions" such as policy development, resource allocation and implementation by actors in the public and private sectors, taking into account the long-term growth and development experiences of countries, and emphasized that it is of great importance that growth is sustainable as well as achieving high growth rates.

Yılmaz reminded that according to a study conducted by the CBRT using the Growth Accounting method, the very low increase in total factor productivity played an important role in the weak growth performance of the Turkish economy until the 2000s, and said, "As a result of industrialization and scientific developments, the world economy and the world population have grown very rapidly in the last two centuries. While this growth has contributed to social welfare, it has come at a significant cost to natural resources and the environment. A greener economy is beneficial and necessary not only for Turkey but also for all countries of the world."

"Turkey is Trying to Establish a National Innovation Model"

Yıldız Technical University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Prof. Dr. Feride Gönel stated that the national innovation system has started to become quite popular both in Turkey and in the European Union countries for a while, and noted that national innovation is a concept that is repeated in the field of economics and business administration and has re-entered the policy scene.

Gönel stated that there are many definitions of national innovation and that Turkey is trying to create a national innovation model and added: "In the definition called 3rd generation innovation, there are actually a wide variety of factors. The model of addressing all stakeholders such as economy, trade and education together and simultaneously, in a mutual interaction is valid."