Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

In Berlin for the opening of the Turkish-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s Berlin Headquarters, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu first met with approximately 300 Turkish businessmen living in Germany. In his speech addressing the businessmen, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that Germany has a yearly exports volume of 1.2 trillion Dollars with an internal spending of 3 trillion Dollars and stated that this is a great opportunity for Turkish businessmen; that every businessman should closely follow the German market.

Emphasizing that Turkey has come to export 135 billion Dollars today from exporting 3 billion Dollars’ in the 80’s, Hisarcıklıoğlu indicated Turkey’s short term goal is to be one of the ten richest countries in the world and becoming the largest economy of the world in the long term. Hisarcıklıoğlu urged the Turkish businessmen in Germany to join the Turkish-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the World Turkish Business Council.

- Guiding with Lenin

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu urged the representatives of the Turkish businessmen in Germany for unity, “We went to Paris to make contacts regarding the alleged Armenian genocide bill. There are approximately 500,000 Armenians and 500,000 Turks living in France. Even though the numbers are equal, the Armenian voice is a thousand times louder than ours, they play a stronger role. The same problems are encountered in other countries as well. Among Turks, everyone heads off on their own. Lenin said, ‘Organized groups will always control the masses’. Our ancestors said, ‘Prosperity in unity, anguish in dissent’. We are bound and forced to unite.”

TOBB/DEİK President Hisarcıklıoğlu urged that Turkish businessmen come together under the World Turkish Business Council.

- Contribution of the private sector to growth

Stating that Turkey has achieved a striking growth performance based on the spending and investments of the private sector, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We grew by 8.5% in 2011. It should not be forgotten that Turkey achieved this at a time when European economies have been going under crises one after the other, while the Middle East is shaken by serious political upheaval.” Reminding that Turkey’s economy is the 3rd fastest growing one in the world, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the contribution of the private sector in this growth is quite significant.

- Work on the new constitution

Speaking about TOBB’s national and international relations, Hisarcıklıoğlu also provided information regarding the Constitution which has gathered much interest recently. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, drawing attention to the fact that many civil society organizations have gathered under a single roof, “All of these organizations have differing ideas, world views and interests. But we have come together for the future of the country. We are voice, one breath. We have traveled Turkey province by province together. We have worked for one goal. Now we all want the same thing: To make a Constitution as befits you. All of our hearts beat for a stronger Turkey.”

Stating that the goals of the country no longer correspond with those of the present system, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu spoke: “We don’t have a single minute to lose. The present system stunts the potential of this nation. The Constitution blocks us off at every side. We waste most of our energy in internal fights. We walk when we could be running. We want to make Turkey a world giant again. However our dreams do not fit in this mold. These clothes are too small for this body.”

- “The late Özal discovered our enterprising spirit”

Reciting examples of Turkish entrepreneurs’ successes, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the 80’s were when, along with Turgut Özal, a change of mentality began to occur, “Back then, Greece and Saudi Arabia were richer than us. What happened 30 years later? Greece and Saudi Arabia only barely equal Turkey when you add them together. We don’t have petroleum or natural gas. However we discovered our enterprising spirit 30 years ago thanks to Özal.”

Also speaking at the meeting were the Turkish Ambassador to Berlin, Hüseyin Avni Karslıoğlu and Food, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Undersecretary Vedat Mirmahmutoğulları.

- “Rating companies should not be taken too seriously, like the Eurovision competition”

Assessing the lowering of Turkey’s positive credit note to neutral by Standard and Poor’s, a credit rating institution, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Rating companies should not be taken too seriously, like the Eurovision competition.”

While assessing the lowering of Turkey’s positive credit note to neutral by Standard and Poor’s Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that this is not indicative of credit rating being lowered and said, “According to Standard and Poor’s, the adverse developments foreign trade rates in regards to Turkey and shrinking foreign demand endangers the balance of the economy. Standard and Poor’s analysis is based on data on Turkey from last year and does not take into account the more recent decrease in foreign trade deficit and cooling of the economy.”

The TOBB President stated that the quality Standard and Poor’s analysis matches the company’s name.

Stating that S & P’s lowering of note has had no effect on exchange and interest rates, Hisarcıklıoğlu drew attention to the fact that the market has also ignored this analysis, “Usually, the lowering of credit rating note would be something to make the Turkish Lira lose value. However as rating companies no longer have much estimation, this does not happen. This institution reported 6 months ago that Iceland, which is now bankrupt, was viable for investments. Rating companies should not be taken too seriously, like the Eurovision competition.”
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