NEWSROOM

The international non-governmental organization SPARK has published a report covering the survey data it conducted with Syrian SMEs in Adana, Hatay, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa. According to the report, which explains the contribution of Syrian entrepreneurs to our country's economy, there are 15,000 businesses in Turkey that are registered with approximately 4 million Syrian refugees. It is seen that 70% of Syrian operators do not have relations with banks in their own countries. 

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TURKEY - The Netherlands-based international non-governmental organization SPARK, which has been operating in Turkey since 2015, has recently published the report of its research with Syrian SME owners in our country. In its report titled "Access to Finance: Challenges Faced by Syrian SMEs", which covers businesses operating in Adana, Hatay, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa, the non-governmental organization explained the obstacles that Syrian SMEs face in accessing financial services, as well as conveyed the opportunities they evaluated. The report also includes information on the barriers to accessing bank loans by Syrian entrepreneurs, their contribution to the country's economy, and the projects to be carried out to increase employment in their sectors.

Banks are struggling to lend to Syrian refugees

According to the research conducted by the non-governmental organization SPARK, Syrian refugees face many difficulties when embarking on entrepreneurship in Turkey. The first of these is the necessity of banks to examine the financial background of individuals or operators in order to provide financial support. According to the research, it is seen that 70% of Syrian operators do not have a relationship with banks in their own countries. In order for the loan applications of Syrian refugees to be evaluated positively in the banking sector, credit scores must be formed. However, the fact that these operators did not receive services from banks in the past causes them to enter the 'risky customer' profile.

Syrian operators find it difficult to provide collateral

Based on the information obtained from the "Access to Finance: Challenges Faced by Syrian SMEs" research, it is not possible for Syrian refugees to acquire real estate in Turkey due to the "Reciprocity Principle" valid in our country. For this reason, it is getting more and more difficult for Syrian entrepreneurs to provide collateral in loan applications. Banks require businesses applying for loans to have at least one Turkish owner, as Syrian refugees do not comply with “minimum credibility” requirements. According to the report, the reason why banks refuse to serve customers they deem risky is that they carry out their business with the principle of 'know your customer'.
Refugees are also hesitant to invest in Turkish banks

According to SPARK's research, the developments with the Syrian entrepreneurs in our country have a double-sided effect. The report states that the majority of refugees tend to be “unbanked”. Because the legal status of 'Syrians under temporary protection' in our country creates a lack of trust in refugees. In addition, although some state banks accept Syrian refugees, they do not include the Arabic language option in their mobile applications, so language-based accessibility problem arises. According to the statement made by SPARK, which also took the opinions of the representatives of the banking sector during the research process, the way for Syrian entrepreneurs to register their businesses with banks, politicians and NGOs, encourage their employment and understand how the banking and financial system works, is through financial literacy training.

The report drew attention to the contribution of refugees to the Turkish economy.

According to the SPARK research, which also draws attention to the contribution of refugees to the Turkish economy, there are many projects and methods that can be done for Syrian business owners to operate more actively in our country. There is a need for a perspective that paves the way for Turkey's economic prosperity and growth by including Syrian business people in the financial system in Turkey. With this perspective, it is necessary to reduce this rate by encouraging Syrian companies operating in our country, 30% of which are unregistered, yet have the potential to contribute to the local economy and communities, to financial instruments. Because, according to research findings, while unregistered businesses have fewer employees, they always remain on a small scale. In addition, it limits the joint work of businesses from Syria and Turkey.