20.12.2023 Sakarya
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu attended the Stars of Sakarya Award Ceremony organized jointly by Sakarya Commodity Exchange, Akyazı Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Akyazı Commodity Exchange under the leadership of Sakarya Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
In his speech at the
ceremony, Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that Sakarya is the pride of Türkiye with
its production and exports, “Sakarya is a city that produces 972 of 4,000
different industrial products. We export 6 billion dollars to 120 countries,
and we sell goods from Sakarya to countries such as England, France, Spain,
Italy, where the whole world wants to sell goods.” Hisarcıklıoğlu said that
this is the most concrete indicator of how competitive the products originating
from Sakarya are.
Pointing out that
Sakarya is among the top 3 provinces in Türkiye in terms of production capacity
in 231 products, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Sakarya has the highest production
capacity in Türkiye in 73 products from food to transportation vehicles such as
caravans, railway freight wagons, tractors, rotary converters, biofuels,
roasted shelled hazelnuts. Sakarya alone accounts for a quarter of Türkiye's
vehicle production and exports. Three quarters of the vehicles produced here
are sold abroad. In other words, the whole world knows the labor, hard work and
quality of Sakarya.”
Stating that one of the
chances of Sakarya is that it has a chamber of commerce and industry that
represents the private sector properly, TOBB President noted the following: “I
also follow with appreciation that our Chamber, by increasing its service
capacity and quality day by day, interpreting the problems of our members and
making every effort to solve their problems. Together with our President Akgün
Altuğ, our Chamber works like a project factory and brings permanent works to
Sakarya. The Center of Excellence, which is shown as an example to Türkiye,
SATSO academy, which focuses on improving the competitive capabilities of our
members, Sakarya kitchen academy that introduces Sakarya Cuisine, KobiGem
platform that facilitates trade, Sakarya Industry Master Plan, which offers a
roadmap for qualified production, Arbitration and Mediation Center for the
solution of commercial problems, are just a few of them.
Again, our Chamber
launched the One Stop Office system to facilitate the business and transactions
of our merchants and industrialists. It enabled our members to access all the
services they need from a single center. All this is a work of vision. It is
the work of a modern management approach that aims to provide the best service
to its members and enrich its city.
Our Chamber is also a
class A accredited chamber. In other words, it has documented that it offers
the same quality of service as the best chambers in Europe. I sincerely
congratulate our President Altuğ, his Administration, Assembly, professional
committees, Secretary General and all our working brothers and sisters for this
vision”.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that there is another picture that makes him proud and said, “Our governor,
mayor and deputy governor are together, they have joined hands for Sakarya. It
is this unity and solidarity that makes Sakarya a brand city. I work together
with all the Chamber and Commodity Exchange Presidents in Sakarya in Ankara. We
consult all regulations related to business life and trade with them and
determine our policies. I would also like to thank all the Chamber and Commodity
Exchange Presidents of Sakarya for this service understanding.”
- Other speakers
Yaşar Karadeniz,
Governor of Sakarya, said that people who produce in many different sectors,
develop businesses and open up to the world market constitute the driving force
of the country today.
Explaining that Türkiye
has a rising profile in the national and international arena with its
progressive democracy, developing economy, strong army and rich human
resources, Karadeniz noted that Türkiye is a country that looks to the future
with confidence and hope by raising its standards in every field with its
industrial facilities, universities, highways, huge developments in education
and health, achievements in agriculture and tourism, modern urbanization
practices.
Mr. Ekrem Yüce, Mayor
of Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality, pointed out the importance of domestic
and national production and noted that the “Century of Türkiye” will continue
to be the century of production and Sakarya will continue to provide the
necessary support to this process.
SATSO Chairman Akgün
Altuğ also stated that they are the 13th province that contributes
the most to Türkiye's economy by growing with production in their 106-year
history.
Pointing to the need to
build an economy that is compatible with the requirements of the new world and
can compete on a global scale, Altuğ said: “We are in a period of serious
ruptures, increased competition, changing balances of power and reshaping the
geopolitical equation. Especially the ongoing war and unjust attacks in Gaza
are unacceptable. No cause in which innocent people die is justified. As
humanity, we are living in a period when we cannot look into the eyes of
children and when we run out of words.”
Pointing out that
Sakarya is ready to take its resources and values to the next level by
producing more than it consumes, Altuğ noted that the economic performance of
the province has drawn a very positive picture despite all the negativities
experienced.
Stating that they
ranked 7th in exports and 11th in imports and foreign
trade volume, Altuğ said, “In the first 10 months of the year, we created a
foreign trade surplus of 1.685 billion dollars, and the ratio of exports to
imports is 151 percent. With this value, we rank 3rd in Türkiye. At
the point we have reached today, we export production and services all over the
world. In 11 months, we exported over 5 billion dollars to 169 different
countries.”
Following the speeches,
plaques and gifts were presented to the business people and companies that were
deemed worthy of the award.