25.03.2021 Ankara
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) - AFAD Education Cooperation Protocol was signed by Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu.
TOBB
President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu thanked Minister Soylu for his help in solving
many problems on the ground, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, and in
Turkey's fight against terrorism.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that AFAD, which immediately responds to all disasters facing Turkey,
has become an institution they are proud of, and said that they saw the most
concrete examples of this in the İzmir and Elazığ-Malatya earthquakes.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that they reached out to the needy together, joining hands as a country
in disasters, and said, “We will continue to do our part as TOBB and the
chamber-commodity exchange community in cooperation with our Ministry of
Interior and AFAD in any disaster which might occur in our country as we’ve
done before.”
Noting
that Turkey, like the rest of the world, is fighting the pandemic in 2020,
Hisarcıklıoğlu noted that it is also fighting many natural disasters such as
earthquakes, fires, floods and avalanches.
“The
losses as a result of disasters affect the growth of the economy, the
development of the country, the distribution of income. In order for production
and trade to be minimally affected in the event of any disaster, enterprises
must also be ready for disasters. The more prepared the business world is for
disasters, the stronger the sustainability of the Turkish economy. For this
reason, we feel responsibility as TOBB and chamber-exchanges in the process of
preparing enterprises for disasters. That is why chamber-exchanges should be
best prepared for disasters both for themselves and for their member businesses.
Last month, we conducted a Disaster Preparedness Survey to determine how ready
the chamber-exchanges are for disasters. According to the results of the
survey, we have determined our roadmap. We made our plans on what to do before,
during and after disasters, especially earthquakes, for disasters that are
frequently seen in our country in the first place. We have organized awareness
trainings for member businesses to improve disaster preparedness, resilience
and business continuity.”
- “We will make our SMEs more
conscious and ready for disasters”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that they have established an “Earthquake-Disaster Workgroup” within
TOBB in order to raise awareness about disasters and to start the necessary
work urgently for chamber-exchanges and member enterprises.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that they started the “Robust SME” project with Google/Idema to prepare
their members for disasters. In this context, we have organized many
information webinars for member enterprises in 2020. I would like to take this
opportunity to remind you that in order to be prepared for disasters, the
business world should take out mandatory DASK insurance against earthquakes,
fires, floods, other natural disasters and general damages. In this context, we
also consider it very important for our members to prepare emergency action
plans.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that it is not possible to prevent natural disasters, but that the loss
of life and property can be reduced.
“Therefore,
we need our government to lead us on this issue. I see the 2021 Turkish
Disaster Training Year as a very valuable step in this respect. Look, in the
first half of 2020 alone, 207 global natural disasters were recorded worldwide.
All this caused $75 billion worth of economic losses globally. This is just a
summary of the 6-month situation and the pandemic is not included. In the 20
years between 2000 and 2019, the average number of disaster-related deaths was
40,000 and the average annual economic loss was over $100 billion. The
deadliest natural disaster is flooding, which causes 60 percent of total
deaths.”
Stating
that many important steps have been taken in Turkey in recent years to
compensate for the economic losses caused by natural disasters, Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that the Natural Disaster Insurance Agency has been established in order
to address the grievances caused by the earthquake.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that today, in coordination with AFAD, they have launched a new
cooperation aimed at reducing disaster risks by increasing disaster and
emergency awareness.
“In
this context, we will carry out preparatory efforts for our business world
through our chambers and exchanges in 81 provinces and 160 counties. We have
planned these efforts to continue throughout 2021. We will make our SMEs more
aware and ready for disasters. There are shortcomings, and we will guide them
to address them. Thus, we will minimize the loss of production or trade due to
disasters and protect both our SMEs and our employees. In this way, we will
continue the production and competitiveness of our country.”
- Interior Minister Soylu
Interior
Minister Süleyman Soylu said, “I hope that this year we will reach 51 million
citizens because 2021 is the year of disaster education. So far, we have
trained a total of 3,691,457 citizens to date.”
Stating
that TOBB has never spared its support in disaster events, Interior Minister Süleyman
Soylu said, “The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey has
demonstrated and continues to demonstrate a great will to fulfill its social
responsibilities both alongside our nation and alongside its own colleagues in
the social issues we face, especially in the floods, disasters, earthquakes,
avalanches and many other disaster incidents faced by Turkey. I want to express
this here both in terms of giving the job credit and in terms of sharing it
with the public again. It happened in Elazığ, it happened in Malatya, it
happened in İzmir, it happened in Giresun in a flood disaster. In each of them,
the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey did their part far
beyond what we expected.
For
all this, thanks to all our campaigns, they worked in partnership with our
governorships and carried out the same process. We would like to express our
thanks in front the public again.”
Emphasizing
that the earthquake disaster in Kocaeli in 1999 was a turning point, Minister
Soylu said, “We do not forget that we are a disaster zone. In this regard, we
try to make our preparation improvements before, during and after the disaster
by evaluating and thinking about the processes we face. Because there's so much
we can do in this process, and we have to do it together. As people in front of
society, high institutions in the eyes of society are expected to present a
mission that is both a reminder, a guide and an action mission on this very
important issue. When faced with disasters, the first question used to be where
the government was. 1999 earthquake was a milestone for all of us. Allah bless our
people. Nobody shirked their duty and made an important effort in this regard. This
provided another lesson. To take stronger precautions on earthquakes. When we
face an important test without ever taking the 1999 earthquake out of our
minds, we are trying to underline together how we should fight earthquakes,
floods and disasters, what our previous measures were and what they should be.”
Minister
Soylu added that they will implement “Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Plans”
in 81 provinces by the end of the year. “Perhaps the most important of the work
we would do before the disaster was to prepare the 'Provincial Risk Disaster
Palaces'. In our seven provinces, universities, professional organizations,
chambers, commodity exchanges, trades organizations, municipalities, local
administrations, together with our citizens, 'Provincial Disaster Risk
Reduction Plans' were initialized. We finished in seven provinces. In 81
provinces, we'll finish this as of this year. We started to do search and
rescue accreditation. We also do this with AFAD coordination. We are expanding
our search and rescue capabilities with AKUT, ANDA and the Turkish Scout
Federation. In doing so, we have not only search and rescue, but also Turkey
disaster plan, we have 26 workgroups. We accredited all the institutions we
work with. We are trying to demonstrate the ability to provide all these
things." Minister Soylu said that as of this year, they aim to provide
disaster training to more than 50 million citizens. “Hopefully this year we will
reach 51 million citizens as 2021 is the year of disaster education. So far, we
have trained a total of 3,691,457 citizens. In this regard, we have provided
instructor training to 5,734 citizens who are in voluntary professional
organizations, search and rescue and public institutions. What should we do in
our homes before the disaster, what should we do in the event of a disaster,
what is our duty as human beings and citizens? We see this as an educational
issue and hopefully reach out to all my people with this training tirelessly in
the 2021 Disaster Training Year and put forward a base education and then
continue it in a sustainable way.”
Minister
Soylu stated that they will also extend a helping hand to the citizens whose
houses burned down in Arakan. Our president has instructed us, tomorrow the
teams are going there on a military cargo plane. There, the field hospital will
be in service immediately. As soon as possible, this nation will reach out to
this disaster faced by Arakan Muslims. We expect another move from the Union of
Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey regarding İdlib.”