Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

In his opening speech, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they have been conducting intensive preparations for 2015 since taking up the B20 flag from Australia in the previous month.

Stating that the global economy has been undergoing an interesting period in the last six months, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, "What we knew to be solid truths turned false while those we thought false have shown themselves to be true. We are able to see just how fast expectations can change. We are witnessing distressing from giants while innovative enterprises become shining stars. Solid growth is difficult to maintain globally. Having fixed one part, we encounter deficiencies surface in another. A person sneezes 10,000 kilometers to our west and a country 10,000 kilometers to our east falls ill."

Stressing that days where an overabundance of capital can no longer be found and monetary tightening will be faced, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, "Yet, none of us can quite pinpoint what the effects will be." Pointing out that attempts to focus economic activity to a more narrow field were tried in order to increase rates of return in the past, Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that, in contrast, today they are pessimistically trying to formulate how best to fit into growing cities.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, "While the rapidly growing middle class is heartening, the question on how the earth will meet this demand is alarming.

In the past we tried to find finances for our projects, now, we have both money and projects. However these stand at opposite sides. We are arguing on how to bridge this distance, how we can channel money into our investments.

Energy has retained its game changer role. However, it is working counter-intuitive to what we are used to. Many interesting alternatives including shale gas and renewable energy resources are gaining prominence. Despite lack of any credible expectation of crisis, Brent petroleum has fallen to approximately 50% of its price.

Trade used to be the driving force of commerce. Every year trade experienced twice or three times the growth of global growth. In recent years, we've seen trade growth figures even less than the slow global growth rates. We've been talking about liberalization of trade since WWII; now, we are discussing extra-tariff obstacles which are very dangerous for the future of the global economy. Everyone is anxious to secure their domestic markets at a time when trade has slowed down. Mega-regional agreements are moving forward while multi-lateral negotiations are in their death-throes. This is the kind of time we are living in.

As Charles Dickens said 150 years ago, 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us.' We must find a way out together. We can only bring the global economy to an inclusive and robust growth path together. Global problems require global solutions. That is what makes G20 so very important. That is why the main goal of Turkey's G20 Chair Term is 'Inclusive and Robust Growth'.

I would like to thank the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and Mr. Ali Babacan presenting our government and all of G20 who share this vision with us."

- Cooperation between governments and the business world needs to increase

B20 Turkey Executive Council Chair and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that, while searching for a roadmap for robust growth, emphasizing that it is of the utmost important for cooperation between governments and the business world needs to increase. “That is why we must strengthen the B20, the business wing of G20,” said Hisarcıklıoğlu and stated that in order to accomplish this, more time needs to be spent with G20, to look for truth together. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “I believe that Turkey’s role as G20 2015 Chair will be a milestone in this regard.”

Stating that their goal is to carry the B20 flag they’ve taken over from Australia to even greater heights, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We are building B20’s 2015 adventure on 3 main principles. Our continuity principle is based on the idea that the valued works begun during previous chair terms should be continued. We believe that the B20 should have a multi-year agenda. We can’t achieve success when we need to reestablish the structure of B20 from scratch every year. We know this well as businessmen form our experiences with our companies. Continuity brings success. That is why we will begin by addressing the 20 suggestions Australia has made to the G20. How can we actualize these 20 suggestions? How can we make these 20 suggestions better?

We will also preserve the taskforces and workgroups formed during the previous year as primary taskforces.

We will continue our efforts in the fields of Trade, Infrastructure, Investments, Financing Growth and Combating Unemployment and Corruption. Heading each of these groups will a leader of one of our giant companies. They will be working together with foreign co-presidents throughout the year. Heading the Trade group will be Güler Sabancı, in the top 3 of the world’s most powerful women list and Sabancı Holding Board President.

Working together in the group will be ICC President and McGraw Hill Financial’s Board President Terry McGraw.

Infrastructure and Investments group will be chaired by Ferit Şahenk, Board President of Doğuş Holding, a shining star with its successful investments in both the domestic and international market. Financing Growth group will be headed by Hüsnü Özyeğin, the Board President of FİBA Holding, who built a billion dollar bank from scratch. Employment group will be lead by a Board Member of the largest holding of our country, Koç Holding which provides the most employment, Ali Koç.

Mr. Koç will be working together with the President of IOE, the umbrella organization of 150 employers’ organizations, Daniel Funes.

Combating Corruption group will be headed by Board President Murat Ülker of Yıldız Holding, which swelled our chests with pride with their purchases of Godiva and United Biscuits in recent years.

In short, we will continue to work with all five taskforces with all our might.

Another measure we will be implementing for continuity is the “B20 Advocacy Leadership”, a leadership mechanism for B20.

To this end we will determine a handful of people, chamber or profession organization from each country who are active in policy design processes. The resulting team of 50-60 people will greatly contribute to the lobbying on behalf of the G20 governments. At the same time this will act as a permanent leadership mechanism in order to ensure continuity in the B20.

The second principle which will form the basis of our work is inclusivity. We believe that the B20 should be open to anyone who wants to contribute to the interests of the business world. For us, multinational companies and SMEs, developed and developing countries are all very important. That is why we are forming two new mechanisms. Firstly, the SMEs and Entrepreneurship Taskforce which will develop suggestions for SMEs and entrepreneurs. Heading this group will be Melih Yurter, who has undertaken significant work to promote SMEs in the international arena in Afyon, a medium sized city in Turkey.

This new taskforce will represent SMEs which form two thirds of registered employment in the G20 on the B20 platform. In order to increase the inclusivity of the B20, we will hold regional arbitration meetings throughout the world.

This serves two purposes. The first is to further include the rising economies which are underrepresented into the B20 process. The second is to take note of the views of non-G20 countries in regards to the B20 agenda. As the business world, we don’t have the luxury of separating countries as G20 and non-G20. Companies in non-G20 countries are still our partners. We trade with them, we form partnerships. We must also be their voice.

The third part of the foundation of our B20 efforts is Connectivity, the strengthening of connections. As you well know, there are a myriad of countries in the G20. Some more integrated to the global economy than others; some feeling more at a disadvantage than others. Because of these different structures we are forced to come to agreements. We believe that we can overcome this situation by strengthening connections.

We will handle this by approaching the matter on a level field with all taskforces. In this regard, we will discuss how to address logistical connections which form significant obstacles to trade. We will examine problems in business connections in order to facilitate integration into supply chains. We will work on strengthening digital connections in order to have all countries benefit equally from the internet economy.”

- Business Leaders Forum established for more effective work

Pointing out that the B20 2015 itinerary is very busy, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “I would like to address the esteemed leaders of our companies as the leader of the Turkish business community. It pains me to say that we are not sufficiently involved in platforms which give direction to the global economy.” Stating that they want to change this in order to protect the interests of the Turkish business community, Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that they would be forming a Business Leaders Forum comprised of the chief directors of Turkish companies. Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they would be undertaking B20 efforts throughout 2015 with these 100 people, going on to urge business world representatives to take part in these efforts, taking the steps necessary to become global players.

- Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan

In his speech at the opening of the B20 meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan stated that Turkey has two surprise suggestions.

Stressing the importance of SMEs for Turkey, and reminding that they will be taking on many issues effecting SMEs during Turkey’s chairmanship of G20i Babacan reported that agreement has been achieved in regards to the formation of a “Global SME Platform”. Babacan stated that representatives of SMEs from many countries would work to address the problems of SMEs and that this need not be confined to 2015.

Drawing attention to the fact that Investment will be one of the main topics of Turkey’s chairmanship, Babacan said, “Funds are looking for places to invest for the long term.”

Babacan spoke in regards to W20, a new formation aimed at businesswomen and their problems, “We want this to be a permanent formation, not just for 2015.”

Stating that this period may not be the best for developed economies, Babacan put forth that developing countries would show greater growth than developed countries, maintaining their attractiveness.

- Q&A with Babacan

Following the opening of the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan answered questions directed to him with B20 Turkey Executive Council Chair and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu moderating the session after a short summary of G20 and B20 history by Hisarcıklıoğlu.

In his answers, Ali Babacan stressed the importance of arbitration and emphasized that SMEs are the backbone of the economy. Babacan pointed out that growth figures will drop to half of what they were in recent years, “If goods, services and people are able to travel freely among countries it will be a win-win situation for everyone involved, all research points to this conclusion.”

- B20 Turkey: Approaches, priorities and expectations

B20 Turkey: Approaches, priorities and expectations was presided over by B20 Turkey Executive Council Chair and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu. Attending the panel were, representing DEİK, Tuncay Özilhan, MÜSAD President Nail Olpak, TİM President Mehmet Büyükekşi, TÜSİAD President Haluk Dinçer, TİSK President Deputy Erol Kiresepi and Erdal Bahçivan representing TOBB.

The panel saw focus on the importance of the liberalization of trade, the importance of Turkey as a role model for developing countries while also pointing out sustainability, employment, prevention of corruption, increased enterprise and innovation as primary priorities.

B20 Turkey Sherpa Sarp Kalkan provided information in regards to the itinerary for 2015.

- Expectations of the business community from B20

The expectations of the business community from the B20 were addressed during a panel presided over by Janamitra Devan and attended by ICC President and McGraw-Hill Financial Board President Terry McGraw, Novozymes Board President and CEO Peder Holk Nielsen, Sabancı Holding Board President Güler Sabancı, Doğuş Holding Board President Ferit Şahenk, RSPP President Alexander Shokhin and IOE President Daniel Funes de Rioja.

B20 Trade Taskforce Coordinator Sabancı Holding Board President Güler Sabancı stated that implementation is important in this period, “The liberalization and facilitation of trade will support growth and the formation of new employment fields.

The implementation of previous suggestions is the key factor in B20. Everyone must do their share in actualizing these suggestions. Our focus should be on actualization and implementation.”

Doğuş Holding Board President Ferit Şahenk who will be heading the B20 Infrastructure and Investments Group reported that a sum of 57 trillion USD is necessary for infrastructure projects until 2030 worldwide.

Şahenk pointed out that a loss of 3 trillion USD in growth is encountered annually due to insufficient infrastructure, stating that there is a deficit of 500 billion USD between investment needs and present public funds.

Şahenk reported that his Group will be looking into these fields, examining examples of success and determining the shortcomings of countries individually and to pair long term financing with infrastructure investments.

- Development of G20 – B20 interactions

The issue of developing interactions between G20 and B20 were the subject of another panel. FİBA Holding Board President Hüsnü Özyeğin said in his speech, “Central banks should be encouraged to provide more credit to SMEs than large companies.”

Özyeğin also stressed the importance of developing the quality and properties of capital in addition to having sufficient capital. Özyeğin pointed out that, in regards to financing growth, most central banks focus on improving their capital qualification instead of developing their industries.

Also attending the session were, Murat Sönmez representing the World Economic Forum (WEF), Sabine Zundera representing Siemens, Melih Yurter representing SMEs and Entrepreneurship TF, Bernard Welschke representing BIAC and Eric Labaye representing McKinsey Global Institute.

Following the various sessions, B20 Turkey Executive Council Chair and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu thanked the attendees and stated that the meetings were very successful.