In response to falling export shares—particularly during the coronavirus pandemic—the Ministry of Trade established the Kolay İhracat Platformu (Easy Export Platform). Through this platform, individuals and businesses can make exporting abroad simpler and more accessible.
Facilitating Export for Businesses
The economy is one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic, with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) facing serious challenges. Many of these businesses struggle to export or have experienced significant declines in export volumes. Identifying new export markets, locating potential customers, participating in trade fairs and business meetings, and understanding foreign regulations and legal frameworks create substantial barriers for those who want to export. As a result, many companies are forced to rely solely on the domestic market.
To overcome these obstacles, the Ministry of Trade launched a new initiative called the Kolay İhracat Platformu. Individuals and businesses can register on the platform by providing identity information, email, and preferred sectors and target countries. When these details are entered completely, users gain access to tailored information about potential export markets and countries.
Broad Scope of the Platform
The platform’s main objective is to improve the quality and breadth of advisory services for exporters and aspiring exporters. By offering information through a single portal—supported by a digital advisor powered by artificial intelligence—the platform aims to increase export potential.
The first phase of the platform has already launched, and the second phase is expected to go live toward the end of the year. Current features include a smart export robot, market entry maps, country pages, sector pages, an export cockpit, and regulatory modules. Live data from leading Turkish and international databases are processed by the smart export robot and presented to users.
The export cockpit provides company-specific information and customized guidance. Businesses can quickly access their favorite country and sector pages and easily follow up-to-date news and events. The market entry map shows the position of a product in the target country: how much of that product the country imports, who the major sellers are, how the market is distributed, and what customs duties and conditions apply to imports from Turkey.
Detailed Export Intelligence
The smart export robot uses machine learning to analyze export preferences, global variables that shape import and export flows, and a company’s foreign trade history in aggregate. Based on this analysis, it offers sector recommendations for the product a user wants to export and suggests tailored target markets that best fit the brand.
With these capabilities, the platform enables even small businesses to start exporting. Accessible via the Ministry of Trade’s official website, the service is designed to cover a wide range of users—initially targeting around 90,000 exporters and over 3 million SMEs aiming to expand internationally. Considering the digitalization of commerce and the impact of the pandemic on many businesses, the platform can offer significant benefits to companies that have experienced losses.
In addition to companies, sole proprietors who want to export can also access the system using their e‑Government credentials. This makes it easier for individuals to learn which sectors and markets they should focus on and to take concrete steps toward exporting.