Making a statement to the AA correspondent, Usta said that they highlighted foreign trade knowledge, commercial diplomacy and technology competence in their 2026 activities.
Usta stated that a youth who understands the developments in the world and can translate them correctly into their own business is an important gain for Türkiye's competitiveness, and stated that the center of their work is for young people to take more responsibility in business life and contribute to Turkey's production power.
Stating that their duties as Genç MÜSİAD are beyond organizing events where young people come together, Usta said, "We want to create opportunities for a young person to develop his idea, meet the right people and use what he has learned in business life. This year, we have handled our programs ranging from education to foreign trade, from entrepreneurship to artificial intelligence, with this understanding." he said.
Emphasizing that turning Türkiye's young population into an economic power is possible by trusting young people and making efforts for their development, Usta said that they see the first step of a university student into the business world, a new entrepreneur reaching the market, and the management responsibility of a young person taking on a role in the family business as parts of the same whole.
Usta stated that we are going through a period in which geopolitical tensions, trade uncertainties and technological transformation are effective together in the global economy, and explained that while fluctuations in energy and logistics costs affect the plans of businesses, artificial intelligence changes the conditions of competition from production to services.
Young MÜSİAD President Usta said:
"In this environment, it is important for our young business people to be able to reach different markets, manage their costs correctly and adapt new technologies to their business. We believe that the priority for Turkey is to support our production capability with higher added value and strong international collaborations. Our young people can assume important responsibilities in this transformation."
Usta stated that they brought young people together with experienced names of the business world at Galatasaray University with Young Business Academy (YBA) 2026, and underlined that they discussed leadership, management and entrepreneurship issues through examples in the field.
Stating that it is important for young people to hear how a business makes decisions, how it manages difficulties and how it adapts to change, from the people who bear that responsibility, Usta emphasized that they offer content ranging from sales and marketing to e-commerce, from artificial intelligence to the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the entrepreneurship academy they held in cooperation with Istanbul Medipol University Digital Business Club.
Mağsum Usta stated that they held the 9th International Young Businessmen Congress under the name of UGİK 2026 around the theme of "Future: Today" and that they talked about what decisions should be taken today while preparing for the business world of the future.
Stating that the presence of business people from different generations and experts from different fields in the same environment allows young people to evaluate developments outside their own sectors, Usta said, "We see UGİK as a ground where experience meets the questions of young people. A contact established at the right time, getting to know a new market or listening to a business person who has experienced a similar problem can be very valuable for an entrepreneur." He made a statement.
"We aimed to provide young people with the knowledge of commercial diplomacy"
Mağsum Usta explained that they implemented the Commercial Diplomacy Workshop so that young people can understand the institutional and diplomatic dimensions of international trade, and that they combined the trainings hosted by Boğaziçi University with institution visits.
Usta said, "A business person who wants to expand into a market needs to know the rules and decision-making processes in that market. We aimed to give our young people a broader perspective in this respect with the knowledge of commercial diplomacy." he said.
Stating that the Brussels leg of the program carries this approach to the field, Usta stated that the contacts with European institutions and Turkey's international representatives offer the participants the opportunity to evaluate on-site the reflections of the relations between Türkiye and Europe on trade.
Young MÜSİAD President Usta said that in the 12th term of Young Trade Ambassadors, they focused on bringing foreign trade knowledge to practice and said, "The program covered topics such as market research, customer finding, sales, negotiation and logistics. We aimed for young people to see the complementary stages of export and learn how to develop a commercial relationship." he said.
Usta said that in the acceleration studies within the Genç MÜSİAD Entrepreneurship Center GM2, they focus on the needs of startups to bring their products to the market and expand their businesses.
Stating that the program and Demo Day, carried out in cooperation with Teknopark Istanbul, create a process in which startups can present their projects, establish contact with the business world and open them to investors' evaluation, Usta emphasized that being able to reach customers and establishing a sustainable business model are as decisive in the journey of a startup as the quality of the idea.
Usta stated that at the AI4Agent event within the AI4Business series, they talked about how artificial intelligence agents can be used in business processes and how companies can prepare for this transformation, and said, "We want our young business people to evaluate artificial intelligence based on the concrete needs in their own businesses." He made a statement.
Noting that it is as important to train human resources to use technology correctly as it is to access it, Usta stated that their work in this field aims to improve young people's technology literacy and to make a more conscious contribution to the transformation in their businesses.
Usta emphasized that they believe that young people's ability to use technology should progress together with their ability to develop solutions in order for Türkiye to become stronger in digital competition.
Stating that the main criterion for them is what changes in a young person's life after a program, Usta said, "Being able to make a more conscious career decision, developing a business idea, being equipped to meet a new customer or leading an improvement in the company are meaningful gains." he said.
The master concluded his words as follows:
"The common goal of the work we have carried out so far in 2026 was to expand the areas where our young people can use their potential. We want to repay the trust we have in youth with the effort we devote to their development. We care that more young entrepreneurs, exporters and responsible managers have a say in Türkiye's future. We believe that our young people can write their own success stories by contributing to the production, employment and welfare of this country."
