Uğur Gedik
CPC Certification Authority General Manager
The Covid-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the world, in terms of both health and economy. What are your general views on the effects of the pandemic?
The fact that the Covid-19 pandemic affected the world and our country negatively in terms of health and economy has deeply affected us all. If we evaluate the situation from the field of health, we have seen that developed countries did not have precautions in the field of health, and they were insufficient in terms of intensive care units, masks and testing. With the development of technology, we have seen that the investments in health were actually inadequate. We have seen that developing countries like us were more cautious, conscious, and the investments were more adequate even if they are not too many compared to the developed countries.
We would expect to be more prepared for the possibility that it could always happen in the future, considering that the outbreak of the pandemic like Covid-19 was seen in the past. Unfortunately, no country was prepared, and those who took early measures in the panic has succeeded or continues to succeed.
Taking the necessary measures early when the pandemic first started, would have prevented it from spreading so much. However, it was not possible to take early measures on some issues. It cannot be without considering the effect of the measures to be taken on the country’s economy. Situations arising from thinking about the country’s economy caused the loss of lives with the spread of the pandemic.
It is very interesting that we have seen that protective masks were insufficient and production was low in the whole world. It is very sad to see the fact that masks against dust were under-produced until today. It is also a pity to see that there are no laboratories to do the tests that need to be done for these masks. We understood that these tests could not be done because it concerns my own sector. It turned out how wrongly the masks were used until now. It is very interesting that these tests cannot be performed especially in our country and European countries.
Profiteers were concerned about producing masks while the buyers pursued the CE mark and test request. The masks with fake CE marks are still being used. The people are assuming that they are protected.
In the economic field, we can say that international imports and exports have stopped. It affected the developing countries like us very negatively. I think that these effects will continue further. The contraction in the domestic market and imbalances in prices were manifested due to our low production-based trade. In recent years, especially in the first quarter, the increase in the current account deficit and the fluctuation in foreign currency affected many sectors such as construction, and with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the economy contracted significantly and the exports were negatively affected.
I cannot go without saying that the Covid-19 pandemic has been an economically good opportunity for the profiteers. In particular, I can count the sectors where food, hygiene, paper, masks and protective materials are produced.
How have you been affected by this pandemic as a company? Have there been any changes in your goals in terms of turnover, sales, exports etc.?
Due to the restriction on intercity trips, there were some problems in providing our services. We were unable to perform our inspections and sample receipts on time. We had to postpone the dates. Many years ago, we informed the different institutions that we had been authorized to apply to perform audits remotely, and we had always received a negative answer. Today, some institutions can still say that we can do remote control and some of our institutions say we cannot. When we look at the resources of the European Commission, it is clearly stated that such services can be done remotely. Since institutions and individuals in our country have problems with trust, organizations like us will have to continue their services by touching, seeing and speaking. Although there are disruptions in our works, our work continues at full speed. We continue to provide remote and one-to-one services as far as we can in order to prevent manufacturers from experiencing any negativity. As the institutions that we have taken authority have stopped their services, we have put us on hold in providing services in new areas.
How will be the new situation in the rest of the year and how will the sector be affected?
I hope we continue taking the measures. Although life returns to normal, we should not abandon measures. We should use technology especially digitalization closely. We have learned that it is possible to work remotely thanks to technology. We will need to improve them. In the future where the rules are changing and need to change, we must maintain them all together. As the Certification Sector, we are a sector accustomed to these, but the authorizing public institutions cannot accept this unfortunately. After that, we should accept this and move the remote services to better points with the technology.
We miss the smell of earth after living between the four walls. I think that we should not be apart from the earth and the love for earth will increase.
What kind of restructuring and a process do you foresee as a company after Covid-19?
As the certification sector, it was not difficult for us to get used to this process since we held our remote meetings and trainings. From now on, we will continue to invest in these areas by using digital media more frequently.
While we are investing in this field and providing our services, our customers should also have this awareness. Just as everyone uses a smartphone and strives to use all its features, customers and the public need to adapt to such services during the course of the developing technology.