05.02.2020 İzmir
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu attended the meeting of Aegean Young Business People Association (EGİAD) and made assessments about Turkey and the World economy. Hisarcıklıoğlu, putting emphasis on entrepreneurship, said, “If everyone wants peace, we have to increase the number of entrepreneurs and create jobs for people.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
gave an entrepreneurship-themed presentation at the meeting held at İzmir
Hilton Hotel. Focusing on opportunities in Turkey and the world economy,
Hisarcıklıoğlu focused on the necessity of encouraging young people to become
entrepreneurs.
Stating
that EGİAD, under the leadership of President Mustafa Aslan, carried out very
important activities Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Especially your EGİAD Think Tank
project is remarkable. There is an example of this in all the major
institutions in the world, and we, as TOBB, implemented TEPAV 15 years ago.
Thus, we increased both our corporate capacity and our ability to produce
projects.”
Congratulating
EGİAD for adopting the vision of putting İzmir among the top 20 entrepreneurial
cities in the world, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Today, cities, not just countries,
become brands and stand out in competition. Hopefully, thanks to you, the charm
of İzmir will increase and its star will shine in the world. On the other hand,
I would like you to be active in our chambers and exchanges. We are working
together with President İzmir Chamber of Commerce Mahmut Özgener, in his
capacity as Chairman of the EGİAD Advisory Board, as well as the on the board
of directors of TOBB. You can also get advice and support from him on these
issues.”
- The number of entrepreneurs must increase
While
the proportion of entrepreneurs in Japan is 5% of the population, this rate in
Turkey is 2%, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, there is still a long way to go in this
area. Stating that the employment problem will only be solved by
entrepreneurship, TOBB President reported that the number of female entrepreneurs
in 15 years increased from 5% to 9%, stressing that this is not enough and must
be increased even more.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
mentioned the work they do as TOBB for the encouragement of entrepreneurship,
“The most beneficent of men is who is beneficent unto others. If you contribute
to the upbringing of an entrepreneur, there's nothing better than you. If you
can give a person a job and food to his family, how beautiful.”