Hürriyet chair lauds women in business

PARIS

Women should use their instincts in business, says Vuslat Doğan Sabancı.

A significant portion of big firms in Turkey are family businesses, which has a positive effect on their success, Hürriyet Gazetecilik Chairwoman Vuslat Doğan Sabancı said in a session of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) 2012 meetings in Paris.

“Some 30 percent of firms traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange constitute the backbone of the Turkish economy. And 90 percent of those firms are family businesses. Family is the strongest institution in Turkey. There is a strong family structure. Sometimes you feel over-protected, but safe,” she said, speaking at a meeting titled “Female Senior Executives.”

Charles P. Heeter of Deloitte Touche, deputy prime minister of the Czech Republic Karolína Peake and Danish Minister for Equality and Church Manu Sareen were among the other speakers at the meeting.

“This is a man’s world. Women forget their instincts and female powers. Mathematical calculations are taught in school, but one should use his or her instincts and take action to make the right decisions. I think these are mostly womanly qualities. But women are afraid to use these [qualities] and forget them.

I began to use my instincts after I had two children,” Sabancı said. The 100th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic will be celebrated in 2023, Sabancı said, and while the government’s 2023 vision is very ambitious and inspiring, it lacks an emphasis on social gender equality. “This vision includes plans regarding bridges, highways, education, and employment. But social gender equality does not fall within this vision. A political discourse matters in this issue.”