Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Speaking at the meeting, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said that President Erdoğan always paid great attention to the problems of the Islamic countries and that he always took action for his troubled brothers and sisters, “He has been at the forefront of increasing cooperation, fraternity and solidarity in the Islamic world.”

Stressing that they are in a period where might does make right; that the strong are right and have their voices heard, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “As the member countries of the Islamic Cooperation Organization, we have to be economically strong. Each of us has a separate power and advantage. But if we don't act together, if we can't bring them together, we don't have a chance to succeed in the global system. 65% of the world's energy resources are located in Islamic countries. Are we able to properly utilize this? Unfortunately, no. Our contribution to world production is only 15%. 1.5% of the patents produced in the world come from us. Our share in World High Technology Exports is 3.2%. 48 countries in the world are struggling with poverty. Half of them are Islamic countries. There are 45 regions experiencing war or conflict in the world, 35 of them are in Islamic countries.”

Pointing out that this is their first responsibility, the TOBB President said, “There is grace and prosperity in unity; anguish in dissent. But we are fallen our separate ways; we have lost grace and prosperity. As Islamic countries, we waste our energy and resources with controversy among us when we should be moving towards mobilize unity and solidarity. We should strengthen alliances, not the hostility; conversation, not conflict. We must be unifying, not divisive.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the second important point is to read the world correctly and to comply with the spirit of the times and went on, “If a country is progressing it is due to three freedoms: Freedom of thought, belief and enterprise. This is what lies at the base of the great transformation of Turkey. Left in ruins in two great world wars, Europe has reached immense heights. They established economic unity among themselves, ended conflicts and wars, and prospered together. Look at the history of Europe. Europe had not seen a stretch of unbroken peace over 50 years. But thanks to the unity they have established, for the first time in history, Western Europe has not seen war and conflict in 70-odd years.

We have not a single year of peace and tranquility. At present, there is only one formula to change the bad outlook of the Islamic world: Come together. The most important way to do this is trade. Why trade? Because trade is the greatest source of peace. Those engaged in trade don't talk war; don't seek evil. Therefore, we must first remove trade barriers between our countries and increase trade with each other. In this regard, we’ve seen progress. Intra-trade between Islamic countries reached 20%. In this development, especially our precious president, Sheikh Kamil, has great effort and contribution. The ICCIA brings together our members with fairs and business forums. Therefore, I congratulate all our chambers individually.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that these figures are not enough, that they have more work to do. Stating that they will launch the Islamic Chamber Arbitration Center in Istanbul soon, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “At that time, we will take an important step that will further increase our trade and investments between us. We should implement the preferential trade agreement, TIPS-OIC, among Islamic countries. Unfortunately, only 13 of the 57 Islamic countries have signed it. Why can't we write a success story similar to the European Union?”

Stressing that there is a similar problem regarding halal food, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Throughout the whole world, 'one document, one standard' is the accepted norm. In halal certification, we cannot act against this fact. Because if each country sets its own standards and applies them, there will be no economies of scale. Neither trade develops, nor our firms grow. The Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC) was established for the purpose of setting common standards in Islamic countries. It is very important that SMIIC is adopted in this way by all member states.”

Referring to the visa problem, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that people do not trade with countries they have difficulty getting in and out of, but with countries they can reach easily, and they want to settle this issue.

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that all Muslims were brothers and said, “When we establish brotherhood between us, we win in this world and the next.”