17.09.2018 Malatya
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, giving a conference on “The Role of Local Governments in Economic Development” at the Battalgazi Conference Hall in Malatya, pointed out that competition used to among the countries as opposed to today, in which cities compete against each other. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Those who show themselves in this race will be the star cities of tomorrow.”
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech, gave information about
Malatya. Stating that the name of Malatya means honey in the old language,
Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Malatya, like honey, is a city with a lot of blessings. She
gave us Battal Gazi, Ismet Pasha, Hamido and Turgut Özal. Today, she has given
us a very valuable politician and statesman for our country in Mr. Bülent
Tüfenkci. Under his leadership, we have taken many historical steps that have
improved the business and investment climate in our country. As the Turkish
business world, we express our gratitude to him. Malatya is right to be proud
of producing such a politician and minister for our country.”
- The Role of Local Governments
in Economic Development
In his speech at the conference, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu
said, “In 1950, the number of cities with population over 1 million was only
77. Now this figure has reached 436. In 1950, a total of 180 million people
lived in cities. Today, 1.4 billion people do. Just the economic volume of metropolitan
cities already holds half of the world economy. In 10 years, it will be 60%. It
is not only countries or companies which are brands in the world anymore.
Cities are also brands. In the past, competition was only among the countries.
Today, cities compete against each other. Those who show themselves in this
race will be the star cities of tomorrow. This is because the growing middle
class is gathering in cities. Every year, the middle class in the world,
increases by twice the population of Turkey. In a foreign program I recently
saw, a foreign city wanting to stand out among the competition promoting itself
by building the fastest internet infrastructure in the world which I found to
be very interesting. Thus, the city attracts high-tech companies, rapidly
becoming prosperous. We must increase the attractiveness of our cities. For
this reason, our cities need to be branded, their environmental sensitivities
increased and be ‘smart cities.’”
- It is impossible manage from a
single center Turkey
Hisarcıklıoğlu underlined that it is not possible to enable cities to
rise to the top by managing them only from the center. Stating that referring
to local actors today, the fact that only local governments come to mind is
wrong, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Local actors means the local representatives of
the government, chambers, commodity exchanges and NGOs. These local actors
should determine together the local development approach. That's what big
cities around the world do. As soon as the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan took office,
he established the Smart London Board. In order to bring technological
solutions to the city, he has made all the actors, including academicians in
the city, members of the board. He's got the mind in the city together. He encouraged
unity of purpose.”
- The importance of aggregation
Touching on the concept of aggregation, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “It is very
important to ensure aggregation, that is, to come together, in order to increase
trade. Our companies should grow together by sharing their power. This is how
the world works. Italy's largest fabric producers are producing in only two
cities. The auctioneers in England are gathered in London. The fact that
companies come together in a certain geography provides information sharing,
cooperation, or even partnership, contributing to the reduction of input costs
and innovation.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that another important point is the branding of
local products, giving Parmesan in Italy as an example. “Just parmesan sales
bring in 1.5 billion euros. Price of olive oil has increased by 20%. Thanks to
Malatya CCI, Malatya apricots were registered for geographical markers first in
Turkey, then in the European Union. Here, local actors contributed to Malatya's
economy and local development.”
Stating that they’ve lived through dozens of crises and turbulence in the
last 25 years, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the nation has
overcome all of them and continued on its way. Stating that hope and trust are
very important to the economy, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We will protect our hope
and trust in our country and our city. If we stand united and in solidarity; if
we do not lose hope and trust in ourselves, our city and our country, Allah
willing, there is no challenge we cannot overcome.”