16.08.2023 Ankara
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) Türkiye Economic Council was hosted by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu with the participation of Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, relevant ministers and heads of chambers and commodity exchanges at TOBB Twin Towers.
TOBB President M. Rifat
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that real sector companies have recently experienced
great difficulties in accessing financing and said, “Especially the fact that
SME loans do not increase in real terms has a compounding negative impact on
the entire country and sectors.”
The TOBB Türkiye
Economic Council hosted by Hisarcıklıoğlu was attended by Turkish Vice
President Cevdet Yılmaz and the heads of chambers and commodity exchanges, as
well as Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Trade Ömer
Bolat, Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan, Minister of
Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı, Minister of Industry and Technology
Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan
Bayraktar and Presidential Strategy and Budget Chairman İbrahim Şenel.
In his speech, TOBB
President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the economic councils initiated by President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are a very important platform where the public and private
sectors come together and convey their problems and suggestions directly to the
executive authority.
Pointing out that many
of the issues raised on this platform have been resolved in the past,
Hisarcıklıoğlu said that at the TOBB General Assembly, they requested President
Erdoğan to convene the economic council again and that he found it appropriate.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that he believes that solutions will be produced as in the past regarding the
issues raised here and said, “The most important thing for us is to see our government
stand by us as we do today. Of course, we are experiencing some difficulties in
the economy. But we will not give up the fight.”
Pointing out that the
presence of experienced names in the economy gives them morale, Hisarcıklıoğlu
said, “We believe that together we will bring the economy to more solid
foundations.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed
out that he would like to share a few issues that stand out as someone who
constantly travels around Anatolia and constantly listens to companies and
sectors, and continued:
“Our real sector
companies have been experiencing great difficulties in accessing financing
recently. In particular, the fact that SME loans do not increase in real terms
has a compounding negative impact on the entire country and sectors. If we want
the abundance of growth to be reflected on all segments, we must support our
SMEs and ensure that they have access to appropriate financing opportunities.
Secondly, we have the most rigid labor market in the OECD rigidity index,
including the Scandinavian countries. Everyone suffers from this. Our
legislation almost discourages entrepreneurs who can provide more employment.
It prevents our citizens from accessing more job opportunities and earning
more. Labor life should be looked at with an approach that rewards employment,
not penalizes it.”
- “Investment location problem must be solved”
Hisarcıklıoğlu also
demanded that the problem of investment location be solved in order to pave the
way for investments:
“The share of
industrial investments in the country's surface area is 4 percent in Germany,
2.8 percent in Italy, and even the OECD average is 2.4 percent. A master plan
should be prepared to at least double the capacity of industrial land, and
financing solutions for land acquisition and building construction should be
developed. Thus, our industrialists should utilize their limited capital by
investing in more productive areas.”
Pointing out that a new
industrial basin planning should be made in the Central Anatolia-Eastern
Mediterranean belt, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “With this new industrial basin, we
can reduce the burden on Marmara on the one hand, and at the same time, we can
open up space in Marmara for high-tech investments.”
- “We are ready to produce”
Pointing out that they
rely on the executive and reformist business style of Vice President Yılmaz and
the ministers to take steps and provide solutions on these issues,
Hisarcıklıoğlu said
“As the business
community, first and foremost, we want predictability and a roadmap for the
future. We believe that the medium and long-term plans to be prepared by our
public administration are very important in order to make business plans and
move forward with confidence. For balanced and inclusive growth, we need
stability and confidence in the macroeconomy. A concrete roadmap for structural
reforms must be put forward. The normalization steps initiated by the new
economic administration in monetary policy by acting in this direction are
pleasing and should continue. In this context, we are closely following the
Medium Term Program prepared under the leadership of Vice President Cevdet
Yılmaz. We are ready to run, work and produce. God willing, we will overcome
all difficulties and continue on our way. We will continue to produce and labor
to make our country stronger, richer and more prosperous.”
- Turkish Vice President Yılmaz
“We want to improve the
investment climate in Türkiye, provide a more favorable environment for
sustainable growth and further increase the potential of our economy by
gradually implementing monetary policy, fiscal policy and structural reform
steps,” said Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz.
Stating that within the
framework of the preparations for the Medium Term Program (MTP), which they
plan to announce in the first half of September, they have recently continued
consultations with representatives of the business world, and that they are
about to finalize the 12th Development Plan covering the 5-year
period 2023-2028 and will present it to the TGNA in October, Yılmaz emphasized
that they attach great importance to the opinions and demands of 365 Chambers
and Commodity Exchanges in 81 provinces and 160 districts, which are aware of
the current situation and the most important problems of the field and sectors
in every corner of Türkiye.
Yılmaz stated that they
have implemented solutions to many issues demanded by the business world
through the Chambers and Commodity Exchanges under the roof of TOBB, and that
they have taken steps together from the expansion of vocational training,
modernization of land customs gates, bringing the licensed warehousing system
to the country to the digitalization of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges.
- “We will bring to reality new projects worthy of the
Turkish Century together”
Noting that they have
made the Chambers a one-stop-shop for company establishment procedures, Yılmaz
said: “With the strong will and leadership of our President, we dreamed of
Togg, Türkiye's domestic and national automobile, together, and we brought it
to our nation together, but is Togg enough? It is not. In the coming period, we
will bring to reality new projects worthy of the Turkish Century with new ideas
and projects similar to Togg.”
Yılmaz said that the
world economy has recently been tested by many challenges, including health
crises, trade tensions, geopolitical risks, the Russian-Ukrainian war and natural
disasters, and that this difficult process has led to a deterioration in the
supply and demand balances at the level of countries and regions.
After the opening
speeches, the heads of chambers and commodity exchanges took the floor and
expressed the issues and solution proposals from the real sector.