08.01.2021 Ankara
The Turkish Trade Center (TTC) was opened in Chicago, United States (USA) by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) with the support of the Ministry of Commerce and the contributions of chamber-exchanges.
TTC, which is intended to help industrialists
and traders from Turkey with the principle of “one-stop-shop” in every field
from the establishment of companies in the USA to after-sales services, is the
first 'Turkish Trade Center' opened abroad by TOBB.
TTC, which was implemented to transport the
products of Turkish industrialists and traders to the US market and to ensure
that they are permanent there, will operate on an area of 10,000 square meters
under the name of Turkish Trade Center Chicago (TTC Chicago).
Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan and TOBB President
Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu attended the simultaneous introductory meeting in Ankara
and Chicago for the opening of TTC Chicago.
- Exports to the USA becoming easier
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, in
regard to the TTC: “With this project, we aim to transport our industrialists
and products abroad in line with the macroeconomic goals of our country. In the
United States, the world's largest market, we chose a 10,000 square meter
location in Chicago, a strategic center, right next to O’Hare Airport. Here, in
addition to physical facilities such as office warehouses, we will provide all
kinds of services that our companies in the USA may require with our Turkish
and American professional team based in the USA.”
TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu thanked President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trade Minister Ruhsat Pekcan for supporting the
project by taking it under its protection, stating that the project will make
the work of all companies that want to export to the United States easier.
Hisarcıklıoğlu, who invited businesses which want
to do business with the USA to TTC, said, “TTC will be a one-stop service point
for Turkish companies. Our friends there will help our companies in all their
business, from company establishment to sales and marketing, distribution and
logistics. If our businesses want, we will allocate them a professional
salesperson in the U.S. These professionals will travel all over the United
States to sell Turkish products. I hope this TTC, which I think will be
successful, will prove beneficial for our country and our businesses.”
- Importance of Turkish Trade Centers
Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan, in her speech,
said that while the main goal of the Ministry is to increase exports on the one
hand and to develop integration with branding, value added, domestic
production, design, innovation and global value chains in production and
exports.
Pointing out that the Turkish Trade Centers
established to serve these purposes offer Turkish companies very important and
valuable opportunities in terms of physical presence abroad, storage,
logistics, promotion and marketing, Pekcan stated that these centers have the
capacity to operate as promotional and logistics bases of Turkey abroad.
Despite pandemic conditions in 2020, Pekcan
reported exports of $10.1 billion to the United States, an increase of 13.5%,
noting that the United States ranked 1st among the 44 countries with an export
record this year, surpassing Italy and Iraq among the countries where Turkey
exports the most. “The important thing now is to make this momentum that we
provide with the United States continuous and sustainable. I consider that the
TTC in Chicago will have significant contributions in this sense, and I think
the opening timing of our TTC is quite good.”
- Why Chicago?
There is also a $100 billion trade volume
target between the United States and Turkey, which has been selected as the
target country by TOBB and the Ministry of Commerce with its gross domestic
product (GDP) exceeding $20 trillion, a population exceeding 350 million and
annual imports of $2.1 trillion.
Chicago is notable for being the world's fifth
largest metropolitan economy, one of the most important trade and logistics
hubs in the United States and home to the headquarters of 37 companies on the
Fortune 500 list. The city, which is also the logistics center of more than 300
companies, is expected to be the new us headquarters for Turkish companies,
along with the establishment of TTC Chicago.
TTC Chicago will provide physical services such
as offices, warehouses, showrooms, logistics services for Turkish companies, as
well as market entry, company establishment, sales and marketing support,
supply chain management and after-sales services.
- TTC Chicago in numbers
·
8800 m2 storage area
·
1500 m2 office space
·
Event space for 300 people
·
Service capacity to 50
companies at the same time
·
1 km from Chicago O'Hare
International Airport
- Tamer Kıran attended the webinar panel
Vahap Munyar, General Coordinator and Author of
The World Newspaper, moderated the webinar panel section of the opening
program. Attending the panel were TOBB TM Co. Inc. Chairman Tamer Kıran,
Branding and Design Support Department Head M. İlker Özdem, Chicago Trade Consultant
Uğur Öztürk, TOBB TM Co. Inc. General Manager Noyan Ciritoğlu and TTC Chicago
General Manager Atakan Arıca.