Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Science and Technology Minister Nihat Ergün, İSO President Tanıl Küçük and many guests attended the 10th Industry Congress in Istanbul.

Speaking at the opening of the Congress, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that despite global upheaval and uncertainties in our region Turkey’s economy has proven its dynamism and resilience and that in the last 9 months, a growth rate of 9.6% has been achieved, stemming from the private sector. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “While developed countries shook, we took the wind to our backs and moved full speed ahead! There is significant effort, experience and vision behind this success.”

- The steps the government takes will act as a breakwater

According to the calculations of the European Banking Institution the banks in Europe have a 106 billion Euro deficit and that adding the yearly profit on top of the capital increase to the capital will only pay off a portion of that, stated Hisarcıklıoğlu. In this situation, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that he expects the banks in Europe to decrease their credit amounts and went on, “This way, they may have to lower their credit stock down to 1 trillion Euros even if they are able to find the pay half the debt. In addition, European banks have an incoming payment to be made in 2012, a sum of 700 billion Euros. Meaning, finding additional resources from Europe will be increasingly difficult. Three fourths of credit taken out by the private sector in Turkey is from Europe. We must look for ways to keep producing while keeping this in mind. The steps our government will take during this time will protect us from risk, act as a breakwater.

We put great importance on reports such as the Industry Strategy Document published last year. Documents like this should not be paper on some shelf but a roadmap updated every year.”

- The private sector’s machinery and equipment investments

Touching on the successes of the last 10 years, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the production industry’s production volume by the end of 2011 had reached 118 billion dollars, the private sector’s machinery and equipment investments had reached 85 billion dollars.

Drawing attention to Turkey’s geographical advantages, Hisarcıklıoğlu said,:

“Having the largest industrial infrastructure, the largest investor base in this geography means having the power to direct the transformation of the region. If there are roads or buildings to be built in the region, Turkish companies procure the materials, Turkish companies undertake the construction. In this region, if people want to dress smarter, they prefer Turkish goods. If people want to eat better, the Turkish food industry comes into play.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that if Turkey is to have an economy surpassing 2 trillion dollars then it needs to transition to high technology production, “What we need to do now is clear: To support this trust building process with a good ecosystem. We must ameliorate the environment of the investors rapidly and lighten the load we have put on their backs.”

- “The time to design the future has arrived”

Stating that the time to design the future has arrived, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that although an urbanized Turkey is bound to age, the important thing is whether it will get richer in the process or not.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stating that a lot of added value is produced by those working in Germany and the USA said that this is due to an actively functioning institutional infrastructure and a source of well educated human resources; that in order to increase efficiency to 2-3 times its present level, Turkey needs to invest more heavily in education. TOBB President said, “If Turkey is to make a move into the field of advanced technology we must ramp up our education.”

Stating that a single Korean company, Samsung, has more R&D researchers than the total of all R&D researchers in Turkey, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that this needs to be changed and even if the resources set aside for R&D are increased, we cannot expect economic returns from R&D in the long term unless we progress in terms of human resources and intellectual property.

Touching on the problem of finances, Hisarcıklıoğlu requested that the government pay closer attention to the needs of the venture capital sector.

- “We must consider debt more carefully when investing"

M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, emphasizing that 2012 will be a difficult year for the world, said, “The state of developed countries is increasing the size of the waves. Against these rising waves we must move with prudence and foresight as industrialists. This means we must consider all aspects of business. We must consider debt more carefully when investing.”

Stating that finding resources from Europe would be increasingly more difficult in the next year, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the three fourths of the Turkish private sector’s credit is sourced in Europe and went on, “We must recognize this while continuing production. The steps our government will take during this time will protect us from risk, act as a breakwater.”

Stating that they put great importance on reports such as the Industry Strategy Document published last year, and that they hope documents like this should not be paper on some shelf but a roadmap updated every year, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We urge our government to be at the forefront of the industry strategy agenda, to be the main catalyst of structural transformation and reform. We must support our companies in entering new markets and develop export and investment insurance systems. We must continue to enact reforms decreasing costs in the employment and energy fields. We must decrease high taxes on energy over time. We must provide treasury backing for the overseas transportation costs of our industrialists. We must protect our production sector from unfair competition stemming from imports from the Far East. We must strengthen market inspection and monitoring systems. We must not disturb business peace.”

- “We can build our own car as well as our own plane”

Stating that Turkey has an entrepreneurial spirit, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We can build our own car as well as our own plane. If someone in our region wants to play Facebook games, why aren’t those games made by Turkish companies? If logistics companies in the region want a vehicle tracking system, why shouldn’t Turkish entrepreneurs be the ones developing these systems? If new pharmaceuticals are needed why shouldn’t Turkish companies develop them? If new software is required, why shouldn’t Turkish software developers provide these? We are up to the challenge. We want to push ahead; we have the energy, courage and power to do so.”

- “They wish to rein back freedom where freedom was born”

Stating that the French parliament is attempting to outlaw the mention of “the repudiation of the fictitious Armenian genocide,” Hisarcıklıoğlu said:

“They wish to rein back freedom where freedom was born. They are trying to violate human rights where the proclamation of the human rights was read out to the world. Let all know that the Turkish private sector will not stand for this unjust treatment. We are here and we stand strong. We will not readily accept this injustice. We will take the necessary steps in the coming days. We will mobilize the Turkish business diaspora in France.”

- Science, Industry and Technology Minister Nihat Ergün

Science, Industry and Technology Minister Nihat Ergün stated that, with the precautions in place, the increase in exports has exceeded the increase in imports, “This means that the precautions we have previously taken have started to have an effect and we are able to observe the results. We will begin to see more significant results in the coming term.”

Ergün, speaking at the “Designing the Future by Directing Waves” themed 10th Industry Congress held by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İSO) said, that while the economy of the world was stable, Turkey’s used to be in crisis but that now the situation is reversed.

- İSO Board President Tanıl Küçük

İSO Board President Tanıl Küçük likened the situation of the industry to a person thrown into deep water to learn to swim, saying, “Despite difficulties and shortages, our industry has managed to stay afloat and start swimming. Our goal after this is to transform our industry into a swimmer able to last longer and go further. Our hope is that our government will support the industry in its endeavor.”

- İSO Council President Erdal Bahçıvan

İSO Council President Erdal Bahçıvan stated that the easiest way to predict the future is to shape it and pointed out that the foundation of industrialization is being able to produce information.

Stating that development and industrialization will not happen with technology transfer, Bahçıvan said that Turkey must produce its own technology and contribute to the national economy with industrialization.

Bahçıvan stated that science and technology affect society very closely today and the science and technology will determine the state of Turkey’s industry as well its place and future in the international arena.
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