Small and Medium Sized Enterprises' Place in Turkish Economy and Their Contribution to the Economy Within a Globalizing World

Abstract

Twenty first century is an era when competition progressively increases within the global economy. That's mainly because the countries abandon their protectionist economic policies under the scope of GATT and WTO which they normally follow. In global world of today, it's impossible to provide protection by means of custom duties and quotas. The most important advantage of such developing countries as Turkey and China within such progressively increasing global competitive environment, is small and medium sized enterprises. Small and medium sized enterprises in such countries as Turkey and China which recently undergo a rapid paced economic growth process, have very important roles in terms of their contribution to economy and especially to employment. SMEs within the global competitive environment of today, are under the pressure of competition in both Turkey and global economy. Their ability to survive and contribute to economy under global economical environment, is based on their ability to follow the technological innovations. SMEs which have important places in developing the national economies within the competitive environment as created by the globalization process, have significant places especially in such developing countries as Turkey, in terms of jobs they create. SMEs have a flexible structure since they are small and medium sized enterprises. Thanks to these features, they adapt to changes in the global world, faster than the larger enterprises. For this reason, they have important roles in protecting the national economies from the adverse effects of the global competition. Thanks to their local characteristics, they form the foundation of the national economies. They also make social contribution to country's economy by empowering the middle class by means of the jobs they are creating in local environment. Creating large sized and globally competitive enterprises in developing countries like Turkey, is dependent on the consistent small and medium sized enterprises policies to be followed. In order to do that, it's inevitable to create a healthy infrastructure. SMEs in the countries where such policies are successfully implemented, have become the most dynamic enterprises of the economy and were minimally influenced by the adverse effects of the global competition. SMEs, recently has become dynamo of Turkish economy, their contribution to local employment was increased, their importance in the economy increased thanks to dynamic and flexible structures facilitating social transition. Importance of SMEs in Turkish economy increases day by day since they prevent estrangement and contribute to empowerment of middle class by creating jobs. These enterprises have recently become a guarantee of economic and political stability, security of the democracy in social and political development of Turkey. In this paper contributions of SMEs to national economy (Turkish economy) within the globalization process, shall be pointed out, SMEs contributions to development of Turkish economy by comparing definitions of SME in Turkey and EU, shall be investigated and analyzed, their dynamic roles in development of the country and their positive effects in the social domain shall be attempted to be discovered.