07.02.2014 İstanbul
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu has been reelected as the President of the Turkey National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), one of the largest business organizations in the world. Hisarcıklıoğlu, pointing out that the Turkish business community needs to focus on distant markets, said that they need new partners to achieve this.
The 59th General
Assembly of the ICC Turkey National Committee was held at the TOBB İstanbul
Service Building. Elected alongside Hisarcıklıoğlu at the ICC Turkey National
Committee were TOBB Board Treasurer Faik Yavuz, Ziraat Bank General Director Hüseyin
Aydın, Adana Commodity Exchange Board Chairman Muammer Çalışkan, Trabzon Chamber
of Commerce and Industry President Suat Hacısalihoğlu and Balıkesir Chamber of
Industry President İsmail Uğur were elected as Vice Presidents.
Speaking at the opening of the
General Assembly, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, stating that the ICC
forms the business rules accepted worldwide, and that as ICC Turkey they are
providing training in order to introduce the Turkish business community to
these rules.
Stating that ICC Board of
Directors will convene on the 6th and 7th of March in
Turkey, Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that many of the business world’s leaders such
as Harold McGraw, CEO of McGraw Hill which encompasses Standard and Poor; European
Vice President of Rothschild Gerard Worms; Qatar Chamber of Commerce President
Mohammad Al-Thani; Bank of China Aviation Board of Directors President Yanling
Zhang and President and founder of Bharti Enterprise, one of India’s leading
business groups, Sunil Mittal would be attending this meeting.
- We
must bring distant markets closer
Hisarcıklıoğlu -emphasizing
that the Turkish business community needs to focus on distant markets- said, “It
is within our power to leap ahead, to burst out in exports in 2014. With the
right strategy, exports and foreign investments can become the driving force
behind growth. To do this, we must first focus on distant markets instead of
those in our region.
Our average export radius is 2,846
km. That means we conduct business as far as France in the west and Kazakhstan
in the east, Moscow in the north and Yemen in the south. However our rivals are
running laps around us. Mexico’s average export radius is 4,574 km; Korea’s
6,651 km; China’s 6,884 km and Brazil’s is 10,251 km. This means that we must
bring distant markets closer. That is why we need new partners.”
-
Board of 20 people elected
During the General Assembly,
the election of ICC Turkey’s Board of Directors comprised of 20 people was also
conducted. Representing member companies, General Director Hüseyin Aydın for Ziraat
Bank, Koç Holding CEO Turgay Durak, Turkey Şişecam Board President Ahmet
Kırman, Kent Kart Board President Mazhar Basmacı and Galatasaray University
faculty member and ICC Arbitration Council Member Prof. Dr. Ziya Akıncı were
elected.
Representing TOBB and chambers-exchanges;
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, TOBB Board Treasurer Faik Yavuz,
Balıkesir Chamber of Industry (SO) President İsmail Uğur, Trabzon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TSO)
President Suat Hacısalihoğlu, Siirt TSO President Güven Kuzu, Sinop TSO President
Erol Derici, Isparta TSO President Şükrü Başdeğirmen, Afyonkarahisar TSO President Hüsnü Serteser,
Çorlu TSO President Enis Sülün, Bucak TSO President Hasan Yalçın Meçikoğlu,
Mersin Commodity Exchange (TB) President Ömer Abdullah Özdemir, Adana TB President
Muammer Çalışkan, Nizip TB President
İbrahim Sarı, Ankara TB Council member İbrahim
Öztürk and TOBB Secretary General Mustafa Saraçöz were
elected.