Women Entrepreneurship Support Web Portal is now at your service. It is designed to provide you with detailed information on issues such as Women Entrepreneurship Support Project services, activities and organisation.

The European Union-funded Women Entrepreneurship Support Project aims at helping women in Turkey to join business life as entrepreneurs and supporting women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

In order to achieve this aim within the scope of the project 25 Women Entrepreneurship Support Centres were established through Turkish Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK) and the Unions of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (ESOBs). More than 4,500 women will receive business start-up and business development trainings as well as consultancy services in these Centres before the end of 2008.

Do you want to start up or further develop your business?

Trainings and other services which will be provided by our experts at the Women Entrepreneurship Support Centres will both help you decide whether to become an entrepreneur or not and provide you with know-how and guidance on how you can start up and further develop your own business. Our Centres will support you in developing your existing business, running it successfully and making your business a part of the local and national networks, through individual consultancy and coaching services.

TESK President Bendevi Palandöken:

"We will continue providing women with entrepreneurship support services"

President of The Turkish Confederation of Tradesman and Craftsmen (TESK) Bendevi Palandöken said their goal was to maintain entrepreneurship support services for women in the upcoming years in order to boost women's contribution to family budget and Turkey's economic development.

As the beneficiary of a 4.5 million Euro Women Entrepreneurship Support Project, TESK has been encouraging women to take a more active role in the business life as entrepreneurs and support women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses through coaching, training and consultancy services. The European Union-funded project was officially launched in January 2008 and is expected to be finalised in April 2009.

These services have been provided by Women Entrepreneurship Support Centres that are mostly located in local Unions of Chambers of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (ESOBs) in 25 provinces, ranging from Balıkesir in the northwest to Tunceli in the east and Ordu in the Black Sea region to Adana on the Mediterranean Coast.

"Our project initially aimed at training 4,500 women as entrepreneurs by the end of this year. But we overreached this target within the first three  months following the start of services in terms of the number of women who applied to us," Palandöken explained.

"This is a great success and an evidence of our women's eagerness to establish or grow their own businesses. Therefore, TESK set a new target and that is to continue providing entrepreneurship support services to women in the upcoming years after end of this project," said Palandöken. 

TESK has about 100,000 women members who are active entrepreneurs that constitute 20 percent of overall women entrepreneurs in Turkey.  "I want our women to know that, as TESK and ESOBs, we are going to put all our efforts into increasing the number of women entrepreneurs and supporting those who expand their own business".