BASEL II SYMPOSIUM IS ORGANIZED AT IUE
CHP Izmir MP Mehmet Ali Susam, Türkiye İş Bankası General Manager H. Ersin Özince, IUE Board of Trustees and Izmir Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors President Ekrem Demirtaş, IUE Rector Prof. Dr. Attila Sezgin and many academicians and students attended the opening ceremony of the symposium that is the most wide-ranging organization about Basel II.
In his opening speech Türkiye İş Bankası General Manager H. Ersin Özince stated that Turkey is no different from the USA about this subject and said, “In a country like Turkey with limited capital Basel II is being considered however, the USA is not even in this situation, and China is not even close to Basel.” General Manager Özince pointed out that the Basel II arrangements that aims to develop the system and move along in stability would effect Turkey’s economical development in a positive way. Özince also emphasized that SMEs had to analyse their defects and determine their strategies in Basel II preparation process and stated that the SMEs had to strengthen their capital structures, reach to a financial structure that finds acceptance in international standards, give importance to risk management and make more investment on human resources. Özince said, “At his point the syposium organized by Izmir University of Economics is a kind of road map for the SMEs. By being the main sponsor of this symposium, İş Bank executes its mission about supporting national economy and development in trade in every aspect. As a matter of fact, the City of İzmir is an important potential for the finance sector and our Bank, by harbouring companies and sectors that can represent us abroad, and with both foreign trade issues and production and investment fields. In this scope, the Basel II symposium that we are the main sponsor, is the serious indicator of the importance we give to all the people that contributes to the economy of our country.”
IUE Board of Trustees and Izmir Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors President Ekrem Demirtaş stated that the most important capital today was knowledge and the SMEs which learned the criteria about Basel and did what was necessary would be a step forward. Demirtaş also pointed out that the Banks had many reponsibilities in this aspect and said, “the Banks must support the SMEs for their preparation and education. The meeting we organized today with Türkiye İş Bankası is a good example for this. A difficult period awaits the SMEs. SMEs cannot remove the problems overnight. However, they should take precautions before its too late.”
IUE Rector Prof. Dr. Attila Sezgin stated that more academic studies must be done about Basel and solution suggestions must be found out to the problems of SMEs for the future of Turkish economy. After the opening speeches Türkiye İş Bankası Risk Management Director Hasan Candan told the history of Basel and evaluated the risk factors of SMEs today.
Izmir University of Economics Head of Department of Business Administration Prof. Dr. Alev Katrinli stated that they aimed to form a discussion platform for the problems of SMEs that form the 64% of employment and that contributes to 36% of GNP.
In the symposium that took place at Izmir University of Economics Balçova Campus, a general evaluation of the SMEs in Turkey will be made and the effect of Basel II applications on the banks and enterprises in Turkey were discussed. Besides, there were presentations in which the opinions of the participants from private sector were presented.
