Minister Bolat outlined financing support for tradespeople and cooperatives in Kırşehir, where he was attending the opening ceremony of the 39th Ahilik Week. Bolat said the limit for tradespeople’s business loans had been raised from 1 million liras to 1.5 million liras.
Bolat said the limit for loans to open businesses, replace commercial vehicles and purchase machinery and equipment had been increased from 2.5 million liras to 3.5 million liras. He stated that a 50 percent financing-cost subsidy was applied to tradespeople’s loans and that a 20 percent cost was applied to Halkbank resources.
Bolat said the entry into force of a regulation concerning the obligation to submit invoices when using loans had been postponed for one year. He added that, under the new regulation, tradespeople with tax or social security premium debts who were unable to restructure those debts could also benefit from financing support.
Loans and financing support for tradespeople
Bolat noted that the business loan limit, which had been 5,000 liras 23 years ago, had been raised to 1.5 million liras. He said 853 billion liras in financing support had been provided to tradespeople through 4 million 736 thousand uses to date, with a 50 percent subsidy.
Bolat said 176 billion liras in financing support had been provided to 257,000 tradespeople last year. He announced that 114 billion liras in support had been made available at a 20 percent cost during the first eight months of this year, through 137,000 uses.
Economic indicators
Bolat said Türkiye’s economy had grown from 238 billion dollars to 1.7 trillion dollars over 23 years, as of June. He said per capita national income had risen from 3,600 dollars to 18,000 dollars, adding that the targets for the end of the year were national income of 1.8 trillion dollars and per capita national income of 20,500 dollars.
Bolat noted that goods exports had risen to 280 billion dollars on an annualized basis by the end of August. He said employment had increased from 20.5 million to 32.36 million people. Bolat also stated that the population had risen from 65 million to 86 million during the same period.
Tradespeople’s export and e-commerce activities
Bolat said micro-export support was being provided to tradespeople. He announced that the number of export transactions carried out by tradespeople had risen from 26,408 in 2019 to 1.14 million in 2024, while the value of exports had increased 43-fold over five years to 303 million dollars.
Bolat said the number of tradespeople and merchants engaged in e-commerce had been 64,000 in 2019 and had exceeded 650,000 last year.
Support for cooperatives
Bolat said there were approximately 50,000 cooperatives registered with the Cooperative Information System, 12,000 of which were under the Ministry of Trade. He said cooperatives under the ministry had 1.9 million members and announced that a 4.5 billion-lira loan package had been prepared under a protocol between KGF and TESKOMB.
Bolat said interest-free grant support of up to 1 million liras was being provided for the purchase of machinery and equipment under the Cooperative Support Program. He added that 840,000 liras was provided for two employees for one year and 150,000 liras was provided for participation in trade fairs.
Bolat said women’s cooperatives could register free of charge under protocols signed with five e-commerce groups, while a 50 percent discount would be applied to product barcode registration fees. He stated that separate 1 percent quotas had been allocated in markets and stores for local products and products made by women’s cooperatives, and that e-commerce commissions for women’s cooperatives would be set at 0 percent for the first six months and 1 percent for the following four and a half years.
Kırşehir’s exports
Bolat said Kırşehir was a city of production and exports, adding that the city had exported 292 million dollars’ worth of goods last year and had reached 166 million dollars in exports during the first eight months of this year.
Before the program, Bolat visited the tomb of Ahi Evran Veli and prayed, and also met with Kırşehir Governor Murat Sefa Demiryürek. At the ceremony in Cacabey Square, Bolat said Ahilik embraced the principles of honesty, helpfulness, solidarity and patriotism. He added that Ahi pilaf and halva were served to citizens at the end of the program.
