13.03.2021 Diyarbakır
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu attended the Mesopotamian Agriculture and Livestock Fair Launch Meeting held at Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that fairs are where production, labor, and buyer meet, “No matter what
job you do, you have to find customers and this is only possible with promotion
and marketing. Fairs are one of the best ways to reach the right customer. That
is why as TOBB, we attach great importance to domestic fairs.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that they are authorized by the Ministry of Commerce to grant fair
permits in Turkey. “We disciplined the exhibition industry, set and implemented
standards. We are now announcing next year's fair calendar before the start of
the year. In the old days, fairs were announced with 10 days to go. The fair
was held for the sake of it. Now, just like in the West, you can see which
sector has fairs in Turkey a year ahead. Fairs have become more planned and
scheduled for both participating companies and domestic and foreign visitors.
Thanks to all this, our exhibition sector has developed rapidly throughout
Turkey.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that before Covid-19, they hosted 62,000 companies and 26 million
visitors with 482 fairs held throughout Turkey in 2019, and that these numbers
decreased during the pandemic.
Talking
about the exhibition goals, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated: “Our goal is to make our
country and Diyarbakır the exhibition center of this region. In 2021, 11 fairs
will be held in Diyarbakır, and I expect 1 million visitors in 2021. More than
100 stands at the Mesopotamian Agriculture and Livestock Fair, which will be
held at the end of March, are already full. Moreover, 1/5 of the participating
companies come from outside the region because they believe in the potential of
Diyarbakır and know the importance of agriculture and livestock. With the
pandemic of agriculture and livestock, it has become strategic all over the
world and in our country. When viewed from Turkey, Diyarbakır is one of the
main centers of agriculture and livestock. Global food prices around the world
have reached their highest level since 2014. The increase in the world over the
last year has been 30 percent. For this reason, we have to show and improve
ourselves in this field.”
- Other speakers
Bendevi
Palandöken, President of the Confederation of Tradesmen and Artisans of Turkey
(TESK), said he was happy to be at the meeting, adding that “It is important
that this venerable city is 'blue' and opens this season with 11 fairs while
many cities of Turkey are still going back and forth in the 'red' and 'orange'
colors due to the pandemic.”
TOBB
Turkey Fairs Council President Cihat Alagöz stated that they will come out much
stronger with 11 fairs this year despite the difficult pandemic process.
DTSO
President Mehmet Kaya stated that due to the Covid-19 pandemic which started in
China and affected the whole world in a short time, fairs in Diyarbakır, as
well as all over the world, had to stop as of March 2020. “As DTSO, we have
followed the developments in the world very closely by proactively managing
this process in the exhibition sector. We prepared ourselves for the new era
and established a fair company by studying what kind of transformation will
happen in our country. For 2021, we have prepared 11 fairs. We will first hold
our Agriculture and Livestock Fair between March 30 and April 3 with the
participation of 103 companies. Diyarbakır being an agricultural province, we
will carry out the Agriculture and Livestock Fair, which will be held between
March 30 and April 3.”
Thanking
the participants for coming to Diyarbakır, Engin Yeşil, Diyarbakır Commodity
Exchange Board of Directors President, said, “We are going through a very
difficult period. We've lost loved ones. We longed for each other in the
process. Hopefully this process will be over and we'll catch up. I would like
to thank our dear President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu for being with us on our difficult
days as well as good ones.”
- Women and Young Entrepreneurs
TOBB
President Hisarcıklıoğlu also met and spoke with the members of TOBB Diyarbakır
Women and Young Entrepreneurs Councils.