Serhan Turfan speaks at Türkiye’s 50 Most Influential Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders awards ceremony

Ekonomist magazine hosted “Türkiye’s 50 Most Influential Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders” Awards Ceremony on 23 September at the Rahmi M. Koç Museum, with KoçZer supporting the event.

The evening gave senior procurement executives an opportunity to come together and exchange views on the issues shaping the profession, from cost and risk management to supply continuity, investment decisions and the changing economic outlook.

Delivering the evening’s first address, KoçZer CEO Serhan Turfan reflected on the expanding role of procurement within businesses. He noted that, alongside cost discipline, resilience, decision-making quality, technology, human capabilities and the ability to create alternative options are becoming increasingly important.

“In my view, the role of procurement leaders is not to make one ‘right’ choice for the business, but to create a wider range of viable options,” Turfan said.

Looking ahead to 2027, Turfan added: “We now face different scenarios and assumptions. In the past, we might have considered being perfectly prepared for a single forecast. Today, however, we need to build organisations that can change direction when conditions change. I believe procurement and supply chain leadership is one of the most critical areas for building this agility within the company.”

The economic context was explored further by Economist Dr. Ahmet Çimenoğlu.

In his presentation, “On the 2027 Radar: Economic Risks and Opportunities Ahead for CPOs”, Dr. Çimenoğlu examined how developments in the Turkish and global economies could feed through into procurement and budgeting decisions.

He considered the potential impact of exchange rates, energy and commodity prices, logistics, financing conditions and geopolitical developments on costs, working capital, supply continuity and budget assumptions. Drawing on a range of macroeconomic scenarios, he also highlighted the indicators procurement leaders may need to monitor as they prepare their 2027 budgets.

The evening concluded with the presentation of plaques to the leaders featured in the “Türkiye’s 50 Most Influential Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders” survey, followed by a group photograph.