Our Academician Wrote a Book About the 132-year History of Corporate Exportation
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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şefik Memiş, a faculty member at Istanbul Ticaret University, wrote a book about the Ottoman Trade Center, the first export promotion center of Turkey, which is entitled “Dersaadet Numunehane-i Osmani”, that is, the Ottoman Trade Museum. With this book, the export adventure of the Turks and the efforts to institutionalize exportation have been published in all its details for the first time.
Dersaadet Numunehane-i Osmani started its activities in the famous Şark Han on Mercan Yokusu in 1891 with the cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce and the Dersaadet Chamber of Commerce based on the legislation enacted with the approval of Sultan Abdulhamid II. Trade museums are commonly confused with museums where ancient artifacts are exhibited; while, in fact, the only common point between the two is that commercial products are exhibited in the halls of trade museums as artifacts are exhibited in typical museums. In parallel, commercial products sent from all over the Ottoman Empire were being exhibited in the halls of Dersaadet Numunehane-i Osmani.
The commercial products were promoted both domestically and abroad by the Dersaadet Numunehane-i Osmani Administration. Dersaadet Numunehane-i Osmani were both promoting the products at international fairs and exhibited them in its foreign branches of the museum, in order to facilitate their entry into new markets. The book, which touches upon the efforts of Ottoman manufacturers trying to take part in the new world trade by means of the branches opened in Plovdiv, Brussels, Fiyume, and Tokyo and the representatives commissioned, also gives information about the trade museums of other countries that were making an attempt to industrialize.
In addition to providing extensive information about the Ottoman Trade Museum, which is considered a cornerstone in Turkish economic history, and comparing it with other examples in the world, the book also offers its readers solutions for today based on the experiences gained in the past. “Dersaadet Numunehane-i Osmani”, a product of long and meticulous studies, brings together many historical documents with the readers.
