Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Hisarcıklıoğlu held a joint press conference following the visit of the USA Chamber of Commerce.

Stating that the economic relations between Turkey and the USA have fallen behind political and military relations, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that despite increasing bilateral trade between the two countries in recent years, the situation presented is disadvantageous one for Turkey.

Hisarcıklıoğlu, stating that economic relations cannot be brought to a resolution by only focusing on Washington D.C., said, “If we wish to develop our economic relations with the USA we must adopt a per-state approach. We have 26 business councils with 26 European countries; however we only have a single business council in the USA. However, the economy of North Carolina is equal to that of Sweden; Rhode Island, one of the smaller states, is equal to that of Bulgaria; California to Italy; Texas to Russia; New York to Australia. So, if we wish to develop our economic relations with the USA a per-state approach or even city based approach is necessary.”

- Washington contacts

Hisarcıklıoğlu, responding to a question regarding his contacts in Washington, said, “As part of the program here, we were to meet with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for lunch, however due to her illness this did not happen. There, along with the undersecretary and former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, we attended lunch. Following which, we met with the US Foreign Affairs Vice Undersecretary for Economic Relations, Jose Fernandez to discuss Turkey-USA economic relations. He expressed that the memorandum of understanding signed between the US Chamber of Commerce and TOBB was very gratifying.”

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they discussed the development of entrepreneurship in the Middle East, as well as the development of education and innovation.

Recalling that the fastest growing 25 companies of Turkey have been ascertained, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they had found opportunity to bring these companies with US companies in the USA.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, regarding cooperation between Turkey and the USA in third countries, “There are many things to be done for both sides on this issue. There is nobody that knows the region as well as we do; the Middle East and North Africa are very well known to us. The US firms provide their experiences, technical capacity and finances. We will assess which third countries we can do business in cooperation when bringing these qualities together with our experience.”

- Johnson: Turkey is a dynamic and growing economy

US Chamber of Commerce Vice President responsible for Turkey, Middle East and North Africa, Lionel Johnson reminded that they signed the memorandum of understanding with TOBB several days ago in Ankara in order to draw the roadmap for the development of the economic relations of the two countries.

Johnson stated that the memorandum of understanding will aid in the formation of the two countries economic and commercial relations in regards to their strategic relations.

Johnson stated that the said memorandum entails working together in the fields of development and restructuring in the region for a duration of 16 to 18 months.

Johnson stated that their goal is to provide the private sector with more opportunities and bring Turkish companies together with US companies and encourage cooperation in third countries.

Stating that Turkey is a dynamic and growing economy and said that Turkey’s 2023 goal to be among the 10 largest economies of the world to be a significant goal.

Johnson stated that there are many brave and entrepreneurial Turkish businessmen in the Middle East and North Africa who are doing business with great success and said, “I’ve seen this firsthand in Iraq.” Johnson stated that this is why they are interested in doing business together in these countries.
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