Ömer Karadeniz, the President of the Plastic Industry Federation (PLASFED), answered questions from Economy Newspaper Editor Merve Yiğitcan regarding the upper limit for SMEs.  
Karadeniz noted that due to the rapid rise in inflation, the upper turnover limit defined for SMEs in 2023 remained below expectations, stating, “Due to the current limit, many of our companies, which are SMEs in size, cannot comply with the definition of SMEs and thus remain outside the system. Unfortunately, small and medium-sized industrialists, who cannot benefit from SME advantages, have become unable to operate.”  

Reminding that industrialists have been going through tough times due to high inflation and difficulties in accessing financing in recent years, Karadeniz used the following expressions: “Our industrialist, who is already struggling with access to finance, has had to suspend many of their projects because they cannot benefit from SME advantages. Therefore, we desire the upper turnover limit, which has been increased from 250 million to 500 million in 2023, to be updated again. The Turkish industrialist, who needs financial support to sustain their commercial life, is mostly continuing their projects with SME support. Our industrialists, who easily exceed 500 million due to inflation, face production disruptions because they cannot benefit from SME supports. Turkey is an industrial country, and there is no luxury of giving up on production. We must remember that Turkey’s future lies in industry and production. Therefore, we hope that the upper limit will be raised as soon as possible to open up opportunities for our SMEs.”

Translated by Artificial Intelligence