Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The new service building of the Iğdır Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TSO) was opened to service by TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu. Attending the ceremony in addition to TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu were Iğdır Governor Ahmet Pek, TOBB Board Vice President Halim Mete, TOBB Board Member Fahrettin Akyıl, Iğdır former Governor Amir Çiçek, Iğdır Municipality President Representative Mehmet Şah, Iğdır TSO Board President Kamil Arslan, Iğdır Commodity Exchange Board President İsmail Aras and the region’s chamber / exchange presidents.

In his speech there, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the new service building is one befitting of Iğdır and that it is a matter of vision to have undertaken this endeavor.

Stating that peace is necessary for service, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Without unity and solidarity, there can be no service, no profit. This is what is necessary for a city. The most beautiful thing is unity. This unity contributes to the city.”

- “We must increase the number of our entrepreneurs”

Emphasizing that Iğdır is in a position to be a brand city, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Iğdır is one of the peaceful cities in the East. There can be no trade without peace, and no prosperity without trade. Trade has only one requirement, peace. Mevlana said, ‘Those who share the same feelings understand each; not those who share the same language.’ If we want to prosper we must increase the number of our entrepreneurs, both on a city and a national basis. We must find employment for 750,000 people every year. There’s only one way to do that: To increase our entrepreneur numbers and provide employment.”

Stressing that entrepreneurship for the coming generations must be increased; Hisarcıklıoğlu said “Our wish is that they will provide role models for young people in your cities, so that the youth will be encouraged. Half of our population is women, whereas the percentage of women entrepreneurs is only 6%. We can neither develop nor prosper like this.”

- “Is there a bicentennial establishment in Iğdır?”

Addressing fathers, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Do not discriminate between your sons and daughters. Give them all their just share. Your duty is to keep your children together. There are century old establishments in the West. Is there a bicentennial establishment in Iğdır? There is prosperity and grace in unity. Your duty as a father is to ensure that your children can preserve your inheritance.”

Touching on the importance of branding, the TOBB President said, “Iğdır is the Çukurova of the East. We need brand recognition. You call it the birth place of the sun. You are the only city in the world to have 3 countries as neighbors. Such beauty has come together in this place. However it needs promotion and marketing. The duty of the residents of Iğdır is to retell the beauty of Iğdır.”

- Promise of a school for Iğdır

Referring to the request for a vocational school from the Iğdır TSO President Arslan, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The residents of Iğdır have requested this of us. It is impossible for us to refuse. May it benefit you all.”

- “We must reconstruct the system from nothing”

Emphasizing that they are hopeful in regards to the future of Turkey, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We have problems. We have a single wish from our government. We only want to be able to compete under the same conditions as our competitors do. We do not want any handouts.

Turgut Özal told us to sell goods to the world. We asked him who we would sell to. Those were the years when I had just started my business career. My father had bought a fully automatic clothes washer for my mother. The machine shook so much it moved around a lot. I thought, ‘Is this what we’re going to sell?’

We have no petroleum and no natural gas, but we do have a great enterprising spirit. Thirty years ago, we had an export volume of 3 billion USD, today that number has reached 152 billion USD. Ninety-two percent of this is made up of industrial goods.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Smart people don’t look to place blame on people, they look at the system for it. Our system has become clogged up. Now, we need to reconstruct the system from the ground up. It can be patched up no longer. The rebuilding of the system starts from the constitution. We must reconstruct the system in order to grasp the future. This is why we must work together.”

Iğdır Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Iğdır TSO) Board resident Kamil Arslan also gave a speech welcoming Hisarcıklıoğlu to Iğdır, talking about the problems facing Iğdır and requested his support in the solution of these problems.