Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Development Agencies Workshop was attended by Development Minister Cevdet Yılmaz and the chamber and exchange presidents from 81 provinces at the TOBB Union Center.

Speaking during the opening of the Workshop, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they have come together to discuss how to bring chambers and exchanges representing the private sector and the development agencies which have shouldered a great role for the future of Turkey closer together.

Hisarcıklıoğlu drew attention to the importance of local geographical markers and cities and said, “The time when decisions would all be made in Ankara to be obeyed in Anatolia is over. Every province has unique needs. We must implement local goals and work together towards them.”

- Cities will be the new brands

Stating that the new brands of the world will be cities, not countries, Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that the number of cities in the world with populations over 1 million have risen from 77 in 1950 to 436 today. Hisarcıklıoğlu, stating that cities have been growing rapidly for in last 60 years and said:

“A total of 179 million people lived in these cities whereas today 1.4 billion people are living in cities. By 2025, cities with populations over 1 million will have reached 616. The total population of said cities will have reached 2.1 billion. There is great competition. The cities which get left behind will lose out. Those which put themselves out there will become the star cities of tomorrow.”

Stating that cities need to fulfill 5 basic criteria, Hisarcıklıoğlu listed these as qualified people, quality of life, private sector friendly business environment, connectedness to other cities and countries and, lastly, strong leadership.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated the importance of development agencies, chambers and exchanges working together for actualizing private sector focused local development and global competition.

- Development Minister Cevdet Yılmaz

Development Minister Cevdet Yılmaz stated that the new regional policy mentality is shaped around the concepts of competition and fairness, “These two concepts form the core of our regional policy.”

Stating that, as a part of the 10^th Development Plan, they are collecting information from the local level for the first time, Yılmaz said that they have adopted a new regional policy mentality.

Reporting that development agencies receive 1.3 billion TRY from the central budget, 694 million TRY from municipalities and 24 million TRY from chambers of commerce and industry, Yılmaz also stated that development agencies will additionally serve as contributors to the various programs ministries are running on a local scale.

Stating that they are open to criticism, Yılmaz said, “We can make this institutional structure so much better through constructive criticism.”

The Workshop was conducted closed to the press following the opening remarks.