TheThe industrialization experienced in Turkey in the 1960s and the services that developed correspondingly enabled the private sector to gain significant momentum . Industrialists and business leaders , who have become the driving force of the economy in this process , have needed voluntary structures to represent their companies and sectors at the national and international levels . Within this framework , business associations and sectoral associations have been established since the beginning of the 1970s . The first-generation industrialists of Turkey , led by Sakıp Sabancı , Vehbi Koç and Nejat Eczacıbaşı , came together under the roof of TÜSİAD in 1971 and took one of the first and most important steps . The “ sectoral associations ” and associations of local industrialists and businessmen , which started to be established one after the other in the same period as TÜSİAD , have carried out very important studies independently of each other with the aim of “ contributing to the economic and social development of Turkey .”
The entrepreneurial spirit which has become prominent since the 1980s and the SMEs ( Small & Medium Sized Enterprises ) whose numbers have increased rapidly , have also enabled the sub-sectors to form associations rapidly . By the 2000s , sectoral associations exceeded 100 , and the business world has completed a vertical organization process on the basis of business lines . The organizations , each of which have emerged as leaders at the sectoral level , had the opportunity to meet in 1997 at the preparation stage of the “ Competition Strategies ” reports prepared by TÜSİAD in cooperation with sectoral associations . The " Competitive Strategies " reports prepared for the electronics , cement , automotive , automotive supplier industry , household appliances , biotechnology and machinery manufacturing sectors were the first indication that associations can achieve
By the 2000s , sectoral associations exceeded 100 , and the business world has completed a vertical organization process on the basis of business lines .
more beneficial results with joint projects .
From this process , synergy arises between the sectors . It has brought sectoral associations together as when 41 associations established the “ Sectoral Associations Platform ” on December 12 , 2000 . The platform ’ s agenda consisted mainly of studies of the European Union and competitiveness issues . This agenda is aimed to increase the sensitivity of the sectors about the European Union and to develop healthy relations with the public sector . Within this framework , the platform has maintained close relations with the Secretariat General of the European Union .
The amendments made to the Civil Code in 2004 and the related amendments to the law on associations within the framework of the European Union harmonization laws allowed associations to come together by establishing federations and confederations . At this point , the platform works have entered a new phase . Thus , thirty years of significant accumulation experienced in civil society , combined with the synergy achieved recently have paved the way for the establishment of SEDEFED on May 7 , 2004 .
As this process continued , local industrialists and businessmen ’ s associations which had been scattered all over Turkey , along with sectoral associations , joined the process of federation by establishing “ regional federations .” After its establishment , SEDEFED determined its vision with the “ Workshop and Informed Search Conference ” held in December 2004 : “ To be an effective non-governmental organization of Turkey in increasing the sustainable competitiveness of our real sector and developing inter-
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