Continuing to support women entrepreneurs with innovative financial products and events organized throughout the country, Halkbank in Turkey is organizing the Producing Women Competition for the second time. The award ceremony of the Halkbank Producing Women Competition, whose applications started on October 3, 2022, will take place on March 8, 2023, International Women’s Day. In addition to the Micro Producer, SME Producer, and Women’s Cooperatives categories, cash awards will also be given in the Zero Waste category. Stating that they will continue to give in-kind awards in addition to cash awards to support the manufacturers, Halkbank General Manager Osman Arslan said: “We are walking with faith and determination on the path we set out to bring new businesses and entrepreneurs to our country. We are very pleased to see that women entrepreneurs grow their businesses with the support of our Bank”.
Launching the Women Entrepreneurs Loan Support Package on International Women’s Day last year to support women entrepreneurs and contribute to the development of women’s cooperatives, and continuing its Producing Women’s Meetings throughout the country since then, Halkbank announced applications for the second Producing Women Competition that was launched in October 2022. Stating that the competition motivates entrepreneurs, Halkbank General Manager Osman Arslan said:
“Last year, we presented successful women entrepreneurs and women’s cooperatives with their awards at the Producing Women Competition, which we launched after our series of events held in 7 geographical regions and 9 provinces. We have met with women entrepreneurs and cooperatives in Adana, Diyarbakir, Kocaeli, Rize, and Erzurum so far in the second stage of our series of events that we started in Izmir after the competition. With the effect of the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Support Package, in which we have provided loan support of TL 16.8 billion (approx. EUR 931 million) to over 138 thousand women entrepreneurs, we see great vitality in the women entrepreneur ecosystem. We believe that the mobility here will increase the competition in the second year of our competition.”
“We aim to contribute to the economic activities of businesses”
Arslan stated that thousands of women entrepreneurs from different professions have participated in the Producing Women Meetings, which started last year, and that they had the chance to respond to different business needs in this context:
“We aim to introduce our products and services that will meet the needs of our entrepreneurs at events where we come together with thousands of our customers across Turkey. In every corner of the country, we support with all our strength the women who produce and take it as a principle to contribute to the region they live in. We are very pleased to see women entrepreneurs grow their businesses with the support of our Bank. The support we provide we are happy that is conducive to more investments, production, employment, and exports.”
Pointing out that the Halkbank Producing Women Competition will be awarded in kind as well as cash awards to support entrepreneurs, Arslan said: “We aim to contribute to the economic activities of businesses with our in-kind designed for the top three competitors last year. We invite all entrepreneur women to participate in the competition and experience a common excitement under the same roof”.
Special prizes for the top three in the competition
Applications for the competition can be made on the Bank’s website, www.halkbank.com.tr, between October 3 and November 25, 2022. The evaluation of the competition committee will be done by a jury of 9 people. In the competition, where the top three winners in the Micro Producer, SME Producer, and Women’s Cooperatives categories will be rewarded, Halkbank will give a special prize of TL 500 thousand (approx. EUR 28 thousand) to the winner of the Zero Waste category.
In addition to the cash awards, Media Communication Package, Project Loan Package, Lifetime Banking Service Package, E-Commerce Integration Package, and E-Export Packages will also be awarded to the winners of the competition. In addition, all Women’s Cooperatives that made it to the finals of the competition will be offered a free booth at the Halkbank Producing Women Marketplace Shopping Festival, which will be held in the selected provinces under the sponsorship of Halkbank, aiming to expand the business of women’s cooperatives. In addition, all participants will be able to participate in the certification program organized by the Halkbank Producing Women Academy.
Source: the Bank`s press release dated October 03, 2022
