Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Attending the ceremony were Adıyaman Governor Mahmut Demirtaş, Adıyaman National Assembly Representatives Salih Fırat and Murtaza Yetiş, Adıyaman Municipality Director Necip Büyükaslan, TÜMSİAD President Hasan Sert and many chambers’ and exchanges’ presidents as well as businessmen.

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, speaking at the meeting held after the opening and foundation laying ceremonies, touched on the importance of the role of the chamber-exchanges in the revisions made to the Turkish Trade Law.

Hisarcıklıoğlu drew attention to the fact that, in addition to lifting a burden of 6 billion TL from the business world, they have also been instrumental in removing prison sentences. Stating that if the changes had not been made, it might have been that every businessman would visit prison at least once, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “In addition, 18 instances of prison sentences have been removed. Let’s say your store sign had fallen and you didn’t notice. That would have been a fine of 73,000 TL. Perhaps that isn’t a lot for İstanbul but the capital of most of our stores is in Anatolia. If you can’t pay, it’s 730 days in prison. I addressed the Ministers and they put that clause in to deal with unemployment in Turkey.  If that clause had not been changed, you would have needed a night guard for every store sign in Turkey. That would have been jobs for 5.5 million people. Our chambers and exchanges brought forth their various suggestions in regards to a solution; working together, we lifted this burden.”

- A matter of vision

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they have visited Adıyaman four times in the last five years and thanked those who have contributed to the construction of the new Service Building, chief among them the Chamber President Mustafa Uslu. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “This is a matter of vision. I congratulate President Uslu and the Board of Directors. We have laid the foundations of the Congress and Fair Center. That was also a must have. Starting a job is as good as finishing it. I thank everyone who has contributed to it. This is your home. Nobody can take it from you. It will serve future generations as well. Everyone will benefit from it.”

- “Women and young entrepreneurs are the most important”

Touching on the importance of women and young entrepreneurs, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Another thing which impresses me in this hall is our ladies. It is a rare occasion where this many women attend. I thank the Adıyaman Women Entrepreneurs Council President Ms. Kevser and Young Entrepreneurs Council President Mr. Adnan. Women and young entrepreneurs are the most important. If you want to be rich as a country, the only cure is entrepreneurship. Those who have entrepreneurs are rich; those without are poor. Neither petroleum nor natural gas, this is where prosperity lies.

Why are women entrepreneurs important? Half of our population are women but the ratio of women entrepreneurs to our whole population is only 6%.

We must encourage our girls to be entrepreneurial just like we do for boys. My request, especially from fathers, is that you do not treat your children differently.”

Stating that our most important asset in the future will be our youth, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “If we can encourage them to be entrepreneurs and support them, we will have no need for petroleum or natural gas.”

- School promised for Adıyaman

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “President Mustafa Uslu requested a gift for Adıyaman from me. It is true that Adıyaman is more than deserving of a gift. However when I read the newspapers I saw that everyone in Adıyaman wanted something different. Seeing as how you want a school, then may it benefit you well.”

- New Constitution needed

Touching on the work underway on the constitution, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The system needs to change from the ground up. It can’t be patched any further. The foundation of the system is the Constitution. We need to change the Constitution. The political parties have given us their word. We want a new Constitution from the National Assembly. You’ve promised us this. Work must be completed as soon as possible and laws must be amended to follow suit.

In the present system, bureaucracy will not let us work. We can’t provide services. If we tell our bureaucrats to make a hundred decisions and to make the correct one each time, they will not get work done.”

Following Hisarcıklıoğlu’s speech, Adıyaman Governor Mahmut Demirtaş, Adıyaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mustafa Uslu, Adıyaman Municipality Director Necip Büyükaslan, Adıyaman Representatives to the National Assembly Salih Fırat and Murtaza Yetiş and the CHP Vice President Umut Oran also gave speeches stressing the importance of the occasion.
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