Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The TOBB Maritime Trade Chambers Council Meeting was held at the TOBB Union Center hosted by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu and attended by Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication Minister Lütfi Elvan, TOBB Maritime Trade Chambers Council Chairman Sefer Kalkavan, Council Members and the Undersecretary for Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication Ministry, Feridun Bilgin.

In his speech, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the Turkish private sector is working to grow Turkey, make it prosper and ensure fair development, “TOBB Maritime Trade Chambers Council Chairman Sefer Kalkavan has started a great vocational training for the growth of the sector. Thanks to the vision of the İMEAK Maritime Trade Chamber, approximately 40,000 young people are receiving training in seamanship.

Touching on the changing nature of the global economy’s heading, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the global economy has begun to recover with developed countries in the lead. With this, the period of plenty and cheap funds is coming to an end, said Hisarcıklıoğlu, “Now, it is more important than ever for us to rely on our own resources to produce, sell, share equally and sustainably grow. We must use our resources to the best of our ability. Our country grew by 4% while the world economy underwent a crisis this year. We must reinforce this growth trend. The maritime sector is of critical importance in this regard. We’ve been blessed with the ideal geography for this, with shores on 3 sides. We are on the crossroads between the Caucasus, the Arabian world and Europe. We are situated on the historical Silk Road. We are on the most precious lands in the world. We have unmatched logistical advantage with maritime, land and rail transportation. The maritime sector has begun to utilize this advantage in recent years. It has become one of the country’s driving sectors with the employment it provides and the foreign currency it draws.”

- “We are 13^th among the largest maritime trading counties in the world”

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they are employing over 20,000 people in the ship building sector and reported that approximately 3 billion USD are gained in imports. Stressing that, with the correct incentives, shipyards confined to a single region have since spread to all shores stretching from Hopa to İskenderun.

Emphasizing the need to recognize the sector as a strategic one and incentivize both maritime transportation and ports, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that their competition is not just EU countries but, China, Korea, Brazil, India and Russia. Hisarcıklıoğlu expressed pride in the success Turkey has achieved in maritime transportation and ship building against global competition.

- As long as the maritime sector continues full ahead, Turkey will stay on course

Hisarcıklıoğlu went on: “Our sector needs the same sort of incentives provided to its competitors. The new investment incentive package has maritime goods and passenger transportation is a part of the ‘Prioritized Investment Subjects’ of the new investment incentivisation package. I would request of Minister Elvan that ship building sector be included in the ‘Large Scale Investments’ category. We should make headway in this field as well.

As long as the maritime sector continues full ahead, Turkey will stay on course to become one of the 10 largest economies of the world. Council members will share with us the information and suggestions in regards to the sector in a moment.

We believe that, from this point on, a coordinated effort with the public administration will yield effective results.”

- Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication Minister Lütfi Elvan

Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communication Minister Lütfi Elvan stated in his speech that the Turkish maritime transportation and ship building sector has left dark days behind but that by addressing the shortcomings of the past would require hard work.

Minister Elvan provided information in regards to the status of the sector, reporting that the last 12 years has seen the most significant jump in the sector.

Stating that as they are constructing new ports, they are also building the infrastructure necessary for them, Minister Elvan said that, upon reaching their goals, Turkey will be viewed as “A sailor nation, a sailor country.”