Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech at the B20 Turkey India Region Consultative Forum, stated that they want to listen to the viewpoints and proposals of the Indian business community in order to produce more effective results during Turkey’s term as B20 Chair.

Stating that the global economy has failed to sustain growth in the last 6 years, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Expectations are changing rapidly. Youth unemployment is at an all-time high. Economic inequality is on the rise. This is unsustainable for a healthy society. Trade has been used as the driving force behind growth for years but today, global economy is growing slower than trade. Multilateral trade agreements presented a hope for everyone but we are talking about mega-regional trade blocks.”

Pointing to structural problems on a global scale, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that according to the McKinsey Global Institute’s latest report, global debt which was 142 trillion USD in 2007 has increased to 199 trillion USD today.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that business people are working to adapt to the changing monetary policies, “The US and EU’s new monetary policies change everything. Our companies are forced to reevaluate their projections. All asset prices are changing as a result of the new monetary policies. None of us expected this in the long term.”

- “We are building our efforts on sustainability, interconnectivity and inclusivity”

Pointing to the importance of G20 for the future of globalization and stating that B20 plays a key role in this process, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they put great importance on the G20 process as the Turkish business community.

Stating that without the contributions of the business people, G20 actions would not be as effective as planned, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “As B20 we are working very closely with the government. We are building our efforts on sustainability, interconnectivity and inclusivity. While some G20 countries are integrated to a fuller extent than others into the global economy, some seem to be completely out of the game. We believe that it is possible to strengthen relations and eliminate this inequality, rendering B20 open to all who wish to contribute to the business world.

For us, multinational companies as well as SMEs; developed as well as developing countries are of the utmost importance. That is why we have formed the SME and Entrepreneurship Taskforce this year. As the ICC and TOBB, we will be forming the World SME Forum in order to protect the interests of SMEs in the international arena. This platform, which will also be supported by the World Bank, will enable SMEs to be better integrated into the global value chains.”

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu also stated that they are holding regional consultative forums throughout the world, the first of which was held in Saudi Arabia, and that they are holding the second one in India.

Reporting that further forums are planned to take place in Brazil, Mexico, Azerbaijan, China and Singapore, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the cooperation of developing economies such as Turkey and India are crucial for the success of this process.

Also addressing the attendees during the opening of the B20 Turkey India Regional Consultative Forum were Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and Turkey’s Ambassador to India Burak Akçapar.

B20 Turkey Sherpa Sarp Kalkan and B20 Turkey Content Leader Ussal Şahbaz also made presentations detailing Turkey’s B20 priorities and sector taskforces.