14.04.2016 İstanbul
Attending the Busworld Academy & IRU Congress, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that passenger road transportation is a sector of great importance for the country and said, “Of the highest priority is to ensure that our modes of transportation are in congruity and thereby design our national transportation plan, integrated transportation. Enacting this plan will be a leap forward not just for the sector, but our national economy as a whole. There is much work underway to this end. While they are underway, listening to those involved is important for the correct implementation of the plan’s design.”
The most prestigious regional organization of the passenger
transportation sector, the Busworld Academy & IRU Congress took place at
the İstanbul Expo Center with the theme of “Towards a Sustainable Future in the
Coach and Passenger Bus Market.”
Speaking at the meeting attended by TBMM Members Prof. Mustafa Ilıcalı,
TOBB Passenger Transportation Council Chair Mustafa Yıldırım, Transportation,
Maritime Affairs and Communication Ministry Undersecretary Şaban Atlas, TOBB
President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that Turkey, in terms of conducting
land transportation volume, is the first in Europe and second only to the US
worldwide.
Stating that they established the Land Passenger Transportation Council
in 2010 in order to make the sector’s voice heard, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The
sector council keeps the pulse of the sector, identifies problems and consults
with public administration to seek solutions.”
- We want to make the sector’s
voice be heard
Stating that they want to make the sector’s voice be heard both
domestically and internationally as TOBB, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “To this end, we
became a member of the International Road Transport Union (IRU) in 2015. This
allows us to protect the rights of the sector on the international arena as
well promoting it worldwide. Land transportation is of critical importance for
our country to reach its economic goals. We want the services sector to bring
in 150bn USD per annum by 2023. The identification of the sector as a strategic
sector by the Economy Ministry is a very important opportunity for us. We are
working ensure that the sector is active in the services export national
strategy document. If we are able to achieve this, we believe that there will
be new investment opportunities for our companies as a part of the incentives
package under preparation by the government. This will allow sector to have a
breath of air, especially considering the competition against airway
transportation.
The sector’s strength will also positively impact the domestic bus
production sector. Bus production exported 44,000 busses last year, equal to
1.1bn USD in value. We congratulate the producers and exporters for their
performance. TOBB supports the sector on all platforms. We are working to make
it stronger.
There are many long standing problems of the sector. We believe that by
solving these we will provide positive contributions to the growth of our
country. If we all focus on opportunity, we will win together.”