21.10.2013 Los Angeles / USA
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu took questions from Business School students at the UCLA along with Prime Minister Deputy Ali Babacan.
As part of the Turkey
Investment Week organized by TOBB and the US Chamber of Commerce, TOBB
President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu provided information regarding private sector
investments in Turkey at the UCLA Global Management Center during the “Turkey’s
Primary Growth Sectors” conference.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
reported that Turkey is the world’s 6th most preferred tourism
destination in the world while also talking about the success of the Turkish
construction sector. Hisarcıklıoğlu went on to talk about the economic reforms
in Turkey.
Hisarcıklıoğlu said,
“Recently, domestic demand has reached its growth limits with the growth in
growing markets decreasing.”
Emphasizing that
exports are very important for Turkey, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said,
“Additionally the future of Turkey’s largest trade partner, the Euro zone,
remains vague. The USA is experiencing rough times because of known issues. The
Arab spring runs rampant throughout the Middle East, which is turning out to be
a more drawn out process of painful change than previously expected.”
Stating that despite
all this, he remains optimistic as an entrepreneur, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “In
1980, Turkey’s export volume was only 3 billion USD, comprised mostly of
agricultural goods; today it is 150 billion USD with 94% of it in industrial
goods.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu also
spoke in regards to the successes achieved by the tourism and construction
sectors, providing additional information.
Prime Minister Deputy
Ali Babacan reported that much ground has been gained in the last 10 years in
regards to the country’s EU membership, touching on such matters as democracy
and freedoms, internet access and social media usage.