An Enjoyable Interview with Ms. Müge Pınar

A Pleasant Interview with Müge Pınar Unigrup's Chief Executive Officer and Board Chair of the newly established POLYDER-Polyurethane Manufacturers and Importers Association Müge Pınar recently granted us a pleasant interview regarding POLYDER's founding purpose and future activities.

Could you introduce yourself and tell us about your professional background for our readers?

I graduated from Boğaziçi Chemical Engineering. While pursuing a master's degree in Production Management, I began my career in the thesis stage at Tekfen Foreign Trade Chemistry Division. After a short period at Tekfen and subsequently Teletaş, I started working as a Sales Representative at ICI Turkey in 1988. That is when my interest in and passion for polyurethane began. In 1995, I took on the representation of the Polyurethane Division and established Unipol Kimya with my partners. I currently serve as Chief Executive Officer of Unigrup, which consists of four companies. [caption id="attachment_153780" align="aligncenter"] POLYDER-Polyurethane Manufacturers and Importers Association Board Chair Müge Pınar[/caption]

Could you provide information about the newly established POLYDER Association and what its founding purpose is?

The Turkish polyurethane sector stands out as a strategic sector supplying raw materials to many business areas such as furniture, building, construction, automotive and footwear. POLYDER-Polyurethane Manufacturers and Importers Association was founded to bring together all organizations operating in the polyurethane sector; polyurethane system manufacturers and raw material suppliers, paints and silicone manufacturers, polyurethane machinery manufacturers, as well as their representatives and distributors under a common platform, to conduct awareness and information activities regarding the polyurethane sector, consumers and the public about polyurethane and its advantages, and to seek solutions to sectoral problems and bureaucratic obstacles under one roof. We are working to bring association members together on various platforms to foster unity, solidarity and coordination in the polyurethane sector and to advance the sector to a higher level, while ensuring the continuity of knowledge and idea exchange. Among the other fundamental principles of our association are helping to share experience and accumulated knowledge, generating solutions to difficulties encountered in the sector, sharing current information and innovations regarding the sector, and adding value to sector employees.

What activities do you plan to conduct as an association and what are your targets?

As POLYDER, we plan to organize educational activities aimed at raising public and consumer awareness regarding the sector and its products, to engage in joint promotional and guidance activities at national and international levels with relevant organizations to raise consumer awareness, to organize educational activities such as courses, seminars, conferences and panels, to conduct joint work with public institutions and organizations in EU and Customs Union matters and with EU institutions in Brussels and Turkey, and to represent the sector in meetings held for these purposes. POLYDER aims to bring together organizations related to the sector to solve common problems, and to establish connections between both its own members and other organizations working in the same and similar fields domestically and internationally to pursue rational work such as organization and standardization.

How do you evaluate the benefits associations bring to sectors, and what contributions do you think POLYDER will make to the sector?

Associations are communities formed when people come together for a certain purpose. Without any profit motive, they serve the benefit of society. Structures lacking corporate identity, written rules and principles, and managed through hearsay, remain dependent on individuals, become authoritarian and cannot develop. Activities and statements made through associations representing groups of individuals are accorded greater value. In other words, associations enable stronger unity. POLYDER will contribute to the sector in many areas by bringing vision and value to the sector, raising awareness among sector stakeholders, expanding the market and multiplying the applications of polyurethane. The subject of associations' contributions to sector sustainability is quite broad. First and foremost, associations bring all stakeholders operating in a sector together to foster unity and solidarity. This unity and solidarity enable the sector to be represented more effectively and a stronger voice to be heard against the sector's common problems. The research associations conduct regarding the sector and the important information they provide about the sector's current situation and future play an active role in the sector's development and sustainability. Associations determine standards related to the sector and encourage their implementation, enabling the sector to achieve a more disciplined structure. Events and meetings organized provide an important platform for increasing knowledge and experience sharing related to the sector and training human resources in the sector. Similarly, POLYDER plans to contribute through various events and organizations to bring together all stakeholders operating in the polyurethane sector to advance the sector's development and sustainability, to find solutions to bureaucratic obstacles encountered under one roof, to advance the sector further, to inform the public about the sector and to promote and encourage polyurethane use.

Looking at the polyurethane sector's past and present, how do you evaluate its development and what areas do you think should receive greater emphasis for the sector's growth?

The polyurethane sector has been among the rapidly growing sectors globally in recent years, and its development in Turkey has progressed in parallel. Polyurethane materials used particularly in construction, automotive, footwear, furniture and packaging industries are preferred due to their durability and light weight. Additionally, in sectors such as heating-cooling and insulation, they are preferred due to their insulating properties. The Turkish polyurethane sector is forced to import a large portion of raw materials due to difficulties in domestic production. However, the sector has shown rapid growth thanks to investments made in recent years and technological developments. Among the areas that should receive emphasis for further sector development are increased investment in research and development activities, increased domestic production, elevated quality standards, increased investment in skilled labor and focus on environmentally friendly production techniques. Particularly, increasing domestic production will enable the sector to become more independent and achieve a stronger position in exports. Moreover, the production of sustainable and high quality innovative products will make polyurethane materials produced in Turkey more competitive in international markets. In conclusion, although Turkey's polyurethane sector has shown rapid development, it should focus on the aforementioned areas to grow further. In this way, the sector can contribute to the country's economy and achieve a stronger position in the international market.