28.11.2018 İstanbul
The Union Chambers and Stock Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President and the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture Chamber (ICCIA) Vice President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu attended 34th Ministerial Meeting of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) held at the İstanbul Convention Center.
Speaking
at the meeting, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said that President Erdoğan
always paid great attention to the problems of the Islamic countries and that
he always took action for his troubled brothers and sisters, “He has been at
the forefront of increasing cooperation, fraternity and solidarity in the
Islamic world.”
Stressing
that they are in a period where might does make right; that the strong are
right and have their voices heard, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “As the member
countries of the Islamic Cooperation Organization, we have to be economically
strong. Each of us has a separate power and advantage. But if we don't act
together, if we can't bring them together, we don't have a chance to succeed in
the global system. 65% of the world's energy resources are located in Islamic
countries. Are we able to properly utilize this? Unfortunately, no. Our
contribution to world production is only 15%. 1.5% of the patents produced in
the world come from us. Our share in World High Technology Exports is 3.2%. 48
countries in the world are struggling with poverty. Half of them are Islamic
countries. There are 45 regions experiencing war or conflict in the world, 35
of them are in Islamic countries.”
Pointing
out that this is their first responsibility, the TOBB President said, “There is
grace and prosperity in unity; anguish in dissent. But we are fallen our
separate ways; we have lost grace and prosperity. As Islamic countries, we
waste our energy and resources with controversy among us when we should be
moving towards mobilize unity and solidarity. We should strengthen alliances,
not the hostility; conversation, not conflict. We must be unifying, not
divisive.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that the second important point is to read the world correctly and to
comply with the spirit of the times and went on, “If a country is progressing
it is due to three freedoms: Freedom of thought, belief and enterprise. This is
what lies at the base of the great transformation of Turkey. Left in ruins in
two great world wars, Europe has reached immense heights. They established
economic unity among themselves, ended conflicts and wars, and prospered together.
Look at the history of Europe. Europe had not seen a stretch of unbroken peace
over 50 years. But thanks to the unity they have established, for the first
time in history, Western Europe has not seen war and conflict in 70-odd years.
We
have not a single year of peace and tranquility. At present, there is only one
formula to change the bad outlook of the Islamic world: Come together. The most
important way to do this is trade. Why trade? Because trade is the greatest
source of peace. Those engaged in trade don't talk war; don't seek evil.
Therefore, we must first remove trade barriers between our countries and
increase trade with each other. In this regard, we’ve seen progress. Intra-trade
between Islamic countries reached 20%. In this development, especially our
precious president, Sheikh Kamil, has great effort and contribution. The ICCIA brings
together our members with fairs and business forums. Therefore, I congratulate
all our chambers individually.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
said that these figures are not enough, that they have more work to do. Stating
that they will launch the Islamic Chamber Arbitration Center in Istanbul soon,
Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “At that time, we will take an important step that will
further increase our trade and investments between us. We should implement the
preferential trade agreement, TIPS-OIC, among Islamic countries. Unfortunately,
only 13 of the 57 Islamic countries have signed it. Why can't we write a
success story similar to the European Union?”
Stressing
that there is a similar problem regarding halal food, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Throughout
the whole world, 'one document, one standard' is the accepted norm. In halal
certification, we cannot act against this fact. Because if each country sets
its own standards and applies them, there will be no economies of scale.
Neither trade develops, nor our firms grow. The Standards and Metrology
Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC) was established for the purpose of
setting common standards in Islamic countries. It is very important that SMIIC
is adopted in this way by all member states.”
Referring
to the visa problem, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that people do not trade with countries
they have difficulty getting in and out of, but with countries they can reach
easily, and they want to settle this issue.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
pointed out that all Muslims were brothers and said, “When we establish
brotherhood between us, we win in this world and the next.”