Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Speaking at the 2^nd Urban Transformation in All Aspects Congress held by the Construction Engineers Confederation in İstanbul, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu gave an interview to Kanal 24.

Stating that, as businessmen, it is difficult to be very excited by the loan rates, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The Central Bank lowering loan rate cap also decreases the funding costs for banks. Our expectation as the private sector, the construction sector, consumers and citizens, is that banks should reflect this decrease with all due haste, if they don’t, the Central Bank lowering the cap will have no meaning. Since the funding costs of banks have decreased, this should be reflected with all due haste. We are waiting for a decrease in loan rates because high loan rates automatically decrease domestic consumption, impacting the manufacturing, construction and industry sectors.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu drawing attention to the fact that the most important component of manufacturing is the demand for resources, stated that prohibitive price is detrimental to Turkey’s growth rate.

Reminding that growth in Turkey is ensured by the domestic market and consumption, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “It would be impossible for the market to keep turning over with these rates. Add to this the pressure of job creation, the issue of unemployment. What can be done to lower it? We must revitalize the domestic market. To this end, the mechanism has presented banks with an opportunity to address this matter. I urge banks to lower their loan rates with all due haste.”

- “Turkey’s locomotive main sector is construction”

Assessing the urban transformation congress, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that Turkey’s locomotive main sector is construction, saying, “To give an example, consider Turkey’s growth rate and the growth in the construction sector, it is greater than Turkey’s growth rate. This means Turkey’s locomotive main sector is construction. 60 years ago, the percentage of our population living in cities was 15%, today it has increased to 75%. Cities need structuring as long as they’re drawing in population from elsewhere. That is where our construction sector comes in. This is the way it is throughout the world. Urbanization, prosperity increases bringing about the increase of population in cities, requiring that correct structural progress is made in regards to urban development in regards to plans, projects and construction quality. I hope that this summit will contribute to the Turkish contracting and construction sectors.”

- 15% price advantage in national bids for domestic companies

Touching on the matter of 15% price advantage in national bids for domestic companies, the TOBB President stated that this was a legislation already present but unused in Turkey, “Passing this legislation provides great opportunity for all of our industrialists. You can manufacture everything that Turkey imports or buys in Turkey. We don’t need to be saying a product is made in some other country. The government has provided us with a great opportunity. If an imported product is sold for 100 TRY, a domestic product will have preference up to 115 TRY. This is a great opportunity, we must make good use of it.”

Stressing the need for entrepreneurship, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that Turkey’s prosperity is dependent on entrepreneurship.

Stating that they’ve neglected youth and women entrepreneurs, Hisarcıklıoğlu spoke about the various advantages state has given women in other countries to this end, such as additional price advantages and quotas for women entrepreneurs which should also be implemented in Turkey in order to support entrepreneurship.

- B20 Chair

Hisarcıklıoğlu also provided information on their B20 efforts.

Emphasizing that Turkey will host the G20 summit every 20 years, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “This is the first time we are hosting. This is the only chance we will have in this generation. This chance has come to our doorstep. This is the first time in the history of the Republic of Turkey will be hosting such an important summit.”

Pointing out that there are two opportunities in this regard, the TOBB President said, “The first is that Turkish companies will have an important opportunity for entering the international arena and becoming global players during the B20 process. There are many companies with potential for this. It is difficult to facilitate bilateral trade relations when the legislation for each country differs greatly. Where are those rules determined? At international forums like this one. Now it’s at our doorstep, Turkish companies need to be more active.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu reminded that attending the G20 summit would be 19 countries, EU countries and the representatives of 85% of the world’s economy in Turkey.

With regards to inclusivity, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that in order to relay the problems of B20 and G20 non-members, they’ve held a meeting in Jeddah.

“An attendance which exceeded our expectation by 100% took place. The business communities of Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries were there. They all voiced their problems. We noted them. We will hopefully be acting as their voice.”