19.04.2024 İstanbul
The “Türkiye-TRNC Second Economic Conference” organized by the Türkiye-TRNC Chamber of Commerce Forum was held at the TOBB İstanbul Service Building with the participation of Deputy Minister of Trade Mahmut Gürcan, TRNC Minister of Economy and Energy Olgun Amcaoğlu, TRNC Consul General in İstanbul Fatma Demirel, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce Turgay Deniz, Co-Chairman of the TRNC Side of the Türkiye-TRNC Chamber of Commerce Omaç Cin and business people.
In his speech at the
opening of the conference, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that
they have always stood by the Turkish Cypriots in their just endeavors and will
continue to do so.
Stating that the TRNC
economy should be able to stand on its own feet, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The
existence of a strong private sector is also very important for this. Because
if the private sector is strong, the economic development process will also be
strong. We have been working with the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce for a
long time to develop the private sector. We act jointly for the development of
economic and commercial relations between Türkiye and Northern Cyprus.”
TOBB President
Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that with the Türkiye-TRNC Chamber of Commerce Forum,
they focused on the development of both bilateral trade and investment
relations and that they also work together to improve the investment
environment.
Hisarcıklıoğlu said
that they also supported the TRNC's efforts to integrate with the world, and in
this context, they made initiatives for the proper representation of the
Turkish Cypriot business world in the International Chamber of Commerce, the
Islamic Chamber, EUROCHAMBRES and the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Stating that they
believe that the Export Support Office established within the Turkish Cypriot
Chamber of Commerce will contribute to the development of Northern Cyprus
exports, Hisarcıklıoğlu said:
“We will continue to
contribute to the development of the economy of Northern Cyprus by working
together with the Cypriot business community. We want to expand the areas of
cooperation between our governments such as the development of customs
infrastructure, the establishment of a product safety system in line with EU
legislation, and the support of expo participation. As the business world, we
will continue to contribute to these efforts. As our Vice President Cevdet
Yılmaz emphasized during his recent visit to the TRNC, we are working as TOBB
for a cold storage investment near Güzelyurt.”
- Deputy Minister of Trade Mahmut Gürcan
Deputy Minister of
Trade Mahmut Gürcan stated that as they have emphasized in all national and
international platforms, their main policy in their approach to Cyprus is the
full and equal recognition of the independence and sovereignty of the Turkish
Cypriots by the international community.
Gürcan said that at the
Türkiye-TRNC Joint Committee 12th Term Meeting held in January, they
determined action plans for cooperation in areas such as trade, customs,
e-commerce, product safety, human resources, free zones, health, legal
infrastructure.
Mahmut Gürcan stated
that Türkiye, which is the regional base of many international companies today
with its population of 85 million, geographical location and large-scale
domestic market, is the TRNC's gateway to the world and that they are in
cooperation with the TRNC in reducing the effects of the difficulties arising
from the isolation that the TRNC is exposed to and will continue to do so.
Deputy Minister of
Trade Gürcan said, “We achieved a trade volume of 2.5 billion dollars with the
TRNC in 2023. In addition to increasing our trade volume of 2.5 billion dollars
in the coming years, one of our main goals is to expand the TRNC's share of
this trade.”
Stating that they do
not find Türkiye's investment of 360 million dollars in the TRNC sufficient,
Gürcan stated that efforts are underway to expand investments and move them
even higher.