12.12.2023 Ankara
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) Chambers of Industry Council Meeting was held at TOBB Twin Towers with the participation of TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır and council members.
In his speech at the
opening of the meeting, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that
despite the wars in the region and the slowdown in world economies, Türkiye's
economy will close this year with a growth rate of around 5 percent.
Stating that thanks to
the dynamic structure of the private sector, they are able to quickly adapt to
new conditions that arise, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “In this way, we continue to
increase industrial production, trade volume, investment expenditures,
employment and exports. Of course, there are also problems. We follow these
together with our chamber presidents and convey them to the relevant
authorities. Especially due to the increase in input costs, we are experiencing
a series of disadvantages compared to our competitors, especially in textiles
and apparel, where we are the strongest in exports.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed
out that the European Union's agreement on a free trade agreement with India
and its preparation for a new FTA with South America increased the risks in the
EU market.
Stating that the
difficulties in access to finance and the rise in interest rates have a
negative impact on industrialists, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “There are concerns
that the inflation adjustment practice, which is planned to be re-enacted after
18 years, will increase the tax burden of companies with high stocks and
investments and working with external resources. Income tax brackets should be
updated upwards and the purchasing power of employees should be increased.
Unfortunately, our labor legislation is the only area that has not been
reformed and is even getting worse.”
- “Investments here should be supported”
Pointing out that
Türkiye now has the strictest labor market according to the OECD rigidity
index, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “In addition to high employment costs, we are
almost punishing employment with practices such as compulsory employment of
certain professions. We need to change this approach and legislation. There is
an earthquake risk in a significant part of our country. In order to reduce the
impact of this risk on our industry, we need to identify a new industrial basin
on the Central Anatolia-Eastern Mediterranean line.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu, who
demanded that the legal framework of this work be organized with a master plan,
continued his words as follows: “We should prepare infrastructure and logistics
connections and support investments to be made here with innovative and
long-term financing models. In this way, we can both reduce the risk in
Marmara, where our industry is most concentrated, and open up space for
high-tech investments in Marmara and bring a new and higher value-added
industrial vision to the Marmara Region.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that they consider it very important to support production, employment and
export-oriented growth in the Medium Term Program and said, “We also find the
determined stance of the economy management, the emphasis on stability and the
return to rational policies in order to normalize market conditions promising.”
Stating that they see
visionary steps such as green industry, green OIZ and techno-entrepreneurship
supports as valuable in terms of the transformation of the industry,
Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Although the conditions we are experiencing are
difficult, we believe that we will overcome this period together.”
- Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır
Minister of Industry
and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır said that the Covid-19 pandemic, geopolitical
crises, global economic recession and trade wars have caused global supply
chains to reshape.
Emphasizing that
Türkiye has maintained its uninterrupted growth for the last 13 years with
industrialists who have not slowed down in their investments despite the storms
in the global economy, Kacır made the following assessment: “We are talking
about Türkiye, which has reached an export volume of 254 billion dollars, is a
pioneer in value-added production with its young and dynamic population,
logistics connections, R&D and innovation infrastructure, the shining star
of its region and a global production base. At this point, we are number one in
the world in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles. Türkiye is one of the
countries that can develop and produce its own training aircrafts, helicopters,
naval platforms, land vehicles and satellites.”
Kacır reminded that the
100th anniversary of the Republic was crowned with the Togg, a
domestic and national electric car, and noted that the Togg is also a concrete
example of new generation industrial policies.
Kacır reminded that
they had launched the “Türkiye Green Industry Project” with a budget of 450
million dollars with the World Bank, and said that with the 175 million dollar
portion of the project allocated to TÜBİTAK, they would support green
production, companies conducting R&D and innovation studies focused on
resource efficiency, as well as collaborations to be carried out under the
leadership of the private sector.