11.07.2025 Nicosia / TRNC

The Türkiye - TRNC Chamber of Commerce Forum Economic Conference was organized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) and the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce in Nicosia.

The conference was attended by the President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar, Speaker of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Parliament Ziya Öztürkler, Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ünal Üstel, President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce Turgay Deniz and business people. The business world from Türkiye and TRNC showed great interest in the meeting, which was attended by participants from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

In his speech, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu thanked everyone who supported the conference and emphasized that the participation of Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz in the conference shows the importance he attaches to the TRNC.

Stating that they came to TRNC with 150 business people in order to contribute to the development of the TRNC economy, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they will also hold international meetings in TRNC.

Stating that the President of the Turkish Investment Fund is also in the TRNC, Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that the fund’s support for investment will continue, that the TRNC is with them in their just cause, and that they will continue to support the economy to stand on its own feet.

Stating that the close work of the chambers continues on behalf of the development and paving the way for the TRNC, Hisarcıklıoğlu noted that their support continues for the completion of the cold storage in the Güzelyurt region in 2026, the continuation of investments, and the integration of the TRNC with the world.

Hisarcıklıoğlu, the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, the development of international relations, recognition, representing the TRNC, stating that they provide all kinds of support in order to promote, the Republic of Türkiye is always on the side of the TRNC in every field, in the field of e-commerce also explained their support for the development of the TRNC.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they will continue to support the TRNC in every field in order to develop its economy and to prevent and end the injustice it is exposed to, and that they aim to strengthen the bond of brotherhood and increase mutual cooperation.

Stating that they will always support the TRNC’s progress with confident steps both internally and externally, Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that they proudly follow all the support given by Cevdet Yılmaz to the TRNC, for which they thank him endlessly.

- Vice President Yılmaz

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said that it is not possible for a country to develop only through public investments and that public and private investments should complement each other.

Stating that the Turkish economy grew by 3.2 percent last year, the national income reached 1.3 trillion dollars and the per capita income was 15,500 dollars, Yılmaz said that growth continued in the first quarter of the year and that the economy has been growing uninterruptedly for 19 quarters.

Emphasizing that Türkiye attaches importance to agriculture in the TRNC, Yılmaz said, “We are building a cold storage warehouse in Güzelyurt together with TOBB. They say ‘Every crisis is an opportunity.’ There is a British saying ‘Don’t miss any crisis’. They say ‘Turn it into an opportunity’. As you know, we also experienced a citrus crisis. We realized that there was no proper storage capacity. Therefore, the producer is very much affected by such excessive production increases and decreases. In terms of regulating this, such a project idea has developed.”

Vice President Yılmaz emphasized that they continue to work on the development of the TRNC economy and its international commercial representation, and said that space was opened for the TRNC in organizations such as WorldFood 2025, EXPO 2025 and Construction Fair 2025.

Stating that the Export Support Office established between TOBB and KTTO has undertaken an important task for the systematic development of TRNC exports, Yılmaz said, “We have always stood by our Turkish Cypriot exporters and producers and we will continue to do so. The current value of the incentives we have provided in recent years has exceeded 182 million liras. We will hopefully continue to support exporters and producers. We fully support various activities of Turkish Cypriot exporters such as branding, opening stores abroad and participating in fairs.”

- Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Commerce President Turgay Deniz

Turgay Deniz, President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, thanked everyone who attended the conference and explained the activities of the Chamber for the development of the TRNC economy.

Stating that they are working in close cooperation with TOBB in this direction, Deniz thanked TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu and all officials for their efforts to organize the conference.

Stating that they need to develop themselves in order to keep up with the changes in the world, Deniz said that the uncertainties in trade bring risks with them, and that countries with fragile economies should create a structure that can stand on their own feet, and in this framework, they should turn to competitive people and service areas.

Deniz also thanked the representatives of Azerbaijan and the Turkic Investment Fund and expressed his belief that by working together with the member countries of the Organization of Turkic States, they will improve the cooperation between the countries. Stating that the Chamber will continue to carry out these activities, Deniz said that they will continue to work in cooperation with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye.