Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that 165 firms from Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Oman planning on doing business or establishing partnerships in Turkey have confirmed their participation in the Forum and that he approximates the number will reach 200.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that during the Forum, cooperation opportunities with the regions for Turkey will be assessed and special sessions on cooperation in the fields of construction, energy, transportation, agriculture, food and finances will be held.
Reminding that TOBB has, in the interest of developing Turkey’s current commercial and economic relations with the Gulf countries, signed a cooperation agreement with the FGCCC on the 7th of April, 2010, and an action plan on the 21st of May, 2011, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the FGCCC was established to increase commercial and economic cooperation, to establish coordination between its member chambers, facilitate the free flow of information and develop tangible cooperation in various sectors in 1979.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the FGCCC is formed from the chambers of commerce and industry, unions and federation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait.

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out Turkey’s need for opening up to new markets in addition to its exports markets in the West as a result of the economic crisis stemming from Europe and the region’s political developments and that TOBB puts special importance on cooperation with the FGCCC and the Business Forum for the strengthening and diversification of current commercial economic relations between Turkey and the Gulf countries, so that the businessmen of the region may make use of the business opportunities of the region and identify potential investment possibilities.

Reporting that Turkey’s trade volume with the GCC member states has increased fivefold in 2011 with 10 billion Dollars from the 2 billion Dollars’ trade volume recorded in 2000, Hisarcıklıoğlu said:

“The gravitation of Gulf countries’ production to fields other than petroleum, the high buying capability of these markets and geographical proximity are offering our country significant cooperation and investment opportunities. In this regard we await the attendances of ministers, high level directors and representatives of the business worlds from the Gulf Cooperation Council member countries at the Business Forum. Also the Turkish business world will be attending in large numbers and bilateral talks will be held. As part of the Forum the subjects of investment potential and inter-region commerce developments for Turkey and GCC member countries will be assessed. There will also be concurrent panel sessions discussing the development of the fields of women entrepreneurship, transportation, banking, energy, agriculture and food, infrastructure/construction and SMBs.”

It is also expected that Deputy PM Ali Babacan, Treasury Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Economy Zafer Çağlayan and the Customs and Commerce Minister Hayati Yazıcı and the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will also be attending the event.
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