13.04.2017 İstanbul
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, participating in the International Local Chains Meet 2017 Conference and Fair, recommended retailers make user of e-commerce.
TOBB President
Hisarcıklıoğlu, speaking at the Haliç Congress Center in Istanbul hosted by
Turkish Retail Federation Chairman Mustafa Altunbilek, said that countries are
the parts of a whole and Turkey is not cut off from the outside world.
Explaining that the
recovery in the economy in the world started in 2017, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Growth
is positive in Europe. This is significant for us as Europe is our biggest
export market. The growth in Europe is affects Turkey automatically. The global
economy is in a growth trend from 3.1% to 3.6%.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu said
that the recovery of the economies of all countries except Russia and Brazil
has been 2.9% percent in 2016.
Stating that TOBB is focusing
on unemployment as the most important point in the happiness of people in the
development of Turkey's economy, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Every year in Turkey one
million people join the workforce. We have to find a million new jobs every
year in Turkey. If we do not find them work, the unhappy will increase; our stability
and peace will be disturbed. In this context, with the participation of our
President on February 7th, 2017, the Turkish Economy Forum was held at
TOBB. We told the President that we will solve this increasing unemployment
issue; all we need is support. And they gave us support of historic proportions.
After this, in only 2 months, 762,000 new people were provided with employment.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu said
that to overcome the difficulties in access to financial tools, they are
vouching for companies seeking loans through the Credit Guarantee Fund, which
is TOBB's partner, and that they are extending guarantees for the demands of
the government to 250bn TRY.
Reminding that TOBB
and its 365 chambers and exchanges gathered their resources in a pool, Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that they use this as a cheap loan with an annual interest rate of 9.9%.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
explained that they are working on restructuring SME loans, interest-free loan
support, restructuring their tax debts, and rewarding those who pay their taxes
regularly.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
emphasized that they requested a tax amnesty from the government which they
were granted, “Everyone is as innocent as the day were born. But some banks are
dragging their feet. We made their job easier. If you continue to drag your
feet, our reaction will be sterner. If you do not give credit to our cleared
members of due to credit history, our response will be different.”
Noting that the
future of the retail industry is e-commerce, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “If you have
not discovered e-commerce, you will complain tomorrow just like small grocery
stores are complaining today. 15% of total global trade is made from e-commerce.
Those who embrace e-commerce in time will benefit greatly. If you want to win,
you need to consider e-commerce. As retailers, do not overlook this.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
visited the stands in the foyer area after the opening session.