06.04.2015 New Delhi / India
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President and B20 Turkey Chair M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, stating that they put great importance on the G20 process as the Turkish business community, said, “B20 plays a key role in this regard. Without the contributions of the business people, G20 actions would not be as effective as planned.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech at the B20 Turkey India Region
Consultative Forum, stated that they want to listen to the viewpoints and
proposals of the Indian business community in order to produce more effective
results during Turkey’s term as B20 Chair.
Stating that the global economy has failed to sustain growth in the last
6 years, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Expectations are changing rapidly. Youth
unemployment is at an all-time high. Economic inequality is on the rise. This
is unsustainable for a healthy society. Trade has been used as the driving
force behind growth for years but today, global economy is growing slower than
trade. Multilateral trade agreements presented a hope for everyone but we are
talking about mega-regional trade blocks.”
Pointing to structural problems on a global scale, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that according to the McKinsey Global Institute’s latest report, global debt
which was 142 trillion USD in 2007 has increased to 199 trillion USD today.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that business people are working to adapt to the
changing monetary policies, “The US and EU’s new monetary policies change
everything. Our companies are forced to reevaluate their projections. All asset
prices are changing as a result of the new monetary policies. None of us
expected this in the long term.”
- “We are building our efforts on
sustainability, interconnectivity and inclusivity”
Pointing to the importance of G20 for the future of globalization and
stating that B20 plays a key role in this process, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that
they put great importance on the G20 process as the Turkish business community.
Stating that without the contributions of the business people, G20
actions would not be as effective as planned, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “As B20 we
are working very closely with the government. We are building our efforts on
sustainability, interconnectivity and inclusivity. While some G20 countries are
integrated to a fuller extent than others into the global economy, some seem to
be completely out of the game. We believe that it is possible to strengthen
relations and eliminate this inequality, rendering B20 open to all who wish to
contribute to the business world.
For us, multinational companies as well as SMEs; developed as well as
developing countries are of the utmost importance. That is why we have formed
the SME and Entrepreneurship Taskforce this year. As the ICC and TOBB, we will
be forming the World SME Forum in order to protect the interests of SMEs in the
international arena. This platform, which will also be supported by the World
Bank, will enable SMEs to be better integrated into the global value chains.”
TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu also stated that they are holding regional
consultative forums throughout the world, the first of which was held in Saudi
Arabia, and that they are holding the second one in India.
Reporting that further forums are planned to take place in Brazil,
Mexico, Azerbaijan, China and Singapore, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the
cooperation of developing economies such as Turkey and India are crucial for
the success of this process.
Also addressing the attendees during the opening of the B20 Turkey India
Regional Consultative Forum were Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and Turkey’s
Ambassador to India Burak Akçapar.
B20 Turkey Sherpa Sarp Kalkan and B20 Turkey Content Leader Ussal Şahbaz
also made presentations detailing Turkey’s B20 priorities and sector
taskforces.