Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech at the Afyonkarahisar Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Afyonkarahisar Trade Exchange’s joint tax award ceremony, pointed out that there is discrepancy between the interests rates of last year and this year.

Stating that, last year, banks gave out loans with the same interest rates to the state and the private sector, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The banks’ interest rates for the state and private sector have a difference of 6.5% this year. The banks are generous to the treasury while thankless to us. The interest policy has caused the loans to small and medium sized establishments to drop from 16.5% to 6.4%. As a direct result, there has been a significant increase in bounced checks. In March, an increase of 122% occurred in comparison to last year. There are 220,000 cases of bounced checks. Turkey’s jail capacity is insufficient, additional correctional facilities must be constructed. This is why a review of the check regulations has been made.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the private sector, with its great goals, has increased Turkey’s exports from 3 billion Dollars to 150 billion Dollars.

Stating that, on the centennial anniversary of the Republic, they are working to be 2.5 times richer, increase the personal income to 25,000 Dollars and be among the top 10 economies of the world, Hisarcıklıoğlu went on, “While Turkey is the 18th largest economy of the world, it is 92nd on the Human Development Index and 71st on the Ease of Business Index. Being the second fastest growing economy in the world as the 71st country in regards to the ease of conducting business is a testament to the success of the private sector, of our businessmen. We want the people of this country to be rich. We can achieve this through the private sector. What needs to happen? The system needs to change. We want to see Turkey in a better place. We must reconstruct the system. I want to sprint forward. As the private sector, what we want from politicians is to be able to compete with the same conditions as our competitors. That is why we need a new constitution.”

Stating that they wish to contribute to the new constitution and that, as civil society organizations, they have organized meetings in 13 provinces to gauge the views of the public, Hisarcıklıoğlu added that they believe Turkey will be among the top 10 economies of the world in 2023.

Hisarcıklıoğlu went on, “Every part of the system is falling apart in Turkey. Our system works only half as well as we need to catch up to our competitors. The redesign of the country starts from the foundation. This is only possible through a new constitution. We need to reconstruct the whole system, but we also need to do it together as the 74 million. We must do it without alienating anyone, with feelings of solidarity. To this day, we’ve said that the government is the deed.

We say that the time has come for the people to take the deed of the state. Give it to the people. The four political parties promised to us prior to the elections: ‘If we are elected, are in power, we give our word for making a new constitution’. We thank those four political parties. They’ve established the Constitution Negotiation Commission wherein every faction will be represented equally regardless of majority vote and it is hard at work. There is no turning back from this.

I want to sprint ahead. I want to be on equal terms as the people and countries I am competing against and to have the 22 civil society organizations representing tradesmen, chambers and businessmen contribute to the new constitution. This will be our constitution, one that spans all 74 million of us. There is not a single issue we can’t overcome if we come together. We can solve all of our problems by working together.”

After the speeches plaques for the members in their 25th and 50th years in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Trade Exchange were presented while the export and tax record holders of the year received their awards from TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu and Governor Balkanlıoğlu.
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