Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TTC, which is intended to help industrialists and traders from Turkey with the principle of “one-stop-shop” in every field from the establishment of companies in the USA to after-sales services, is the first 'Turkish Trade Center' opened abroad by TOBB.

TTC, which was implemented to transport the products of Turkish industrialists and traders to the US market and to ensure that they are permanent there, will operate on an area of 10,000 square meters under the name of Turkish Trade Center Chicago (TTC Chicago).

Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan and TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu attended the simultaneous introductory meeting in Ankara and Chicago for the opening of TTC Chicago.

- Exports to the USA becoming easier

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, in regard to the TTC: “With this project, we aim to transport our industrialists and products abroad in line with the macroeconomic goals of our country. In the United States, the world's largest market, we chose a 10,000 square meter location in Chicago, a strategic center, right next to O’Hare Airport. Here, in addition to physical facilities such as office warehouses, we will provide all kinds of services that our companies in the USA may require with our Turkish and American professional team based in the USA.”

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trade Minister Ruhsat Pekcan for supporting the project by taking it under its protection, stating that the project will make the work of all companies that want to export to the United States easier.

Hisarcıklıoğlu, who invited businesses which want to do business with the USA to TTC, said, “TTC will be a one-stop service point for Turkish companies. Our friends there will help our companies in all their business, from company establishment to sales and marketing, distribution and logistics. If our businesses want, we will allocate them a professional salesperson in the U.S. These professionals will travel all over the United States to sell Turkish products. I hope this TTC, which I think will be successful, will prove beneficial for our country and our businesses.”

- Importance of Turkish Trade Centers

Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan, in her speech, said that while the main goal of the Ministry is to increase exports on the one hand and to develop integration with branding, value added, domestic production, design, innovation and global value chains in production and exports.

Pointing out that the Turkish Trade Centers established to serve these purposes offer Turkish companies very important and valuable opportunities in terms of physical presence abroad, storage, logistics, promotion and marketing, Pekcan stated that these centers have the capacity to operate as promotional and logistics bases of Turkey abroad.

Despite pandemic conditions in 2020, Pekcan reported exports of $10.1 billion to the United States, an increase of 13.5%, noting that the United States ranked 1st among the 44 countries with an export record this year, surpassing Italy and Iraq among the countries where Turkey exports the most. “The important thing now is to make this momentum that we provide with the United States continuous and sustainable. I consider that the TTC in Chicago will have significant contributions in this sense, and I think the opening timing of our TTC is quite good.”

- Why Chicago?

There is also a $100 billion trade volume target between the United States and Turkey, which has been selected as the target country by TOBB and the Ministry of Commerce with its gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding $20 trillion, a population exceeding 350 million and annual imports of $2.1 trillion.

Chicago is notable for being the world's fifth largest metropolitan economy, one of the most important trade and logistics hubs in the United States and home to the headquarters of 37 companies on the Fortune 500 list. The city, which is also the logistics center of more than 300 companies, is expected to be the new us headquarters for Turkish companies, along with the establishment of TTC Chicago.

TTC Chicago will provide physical services such as offices, warehouses, showrooms, logistics services for Turkish companies, as well as market entry, company establishment, sales and marketing support, supply chain management and after-sales services.

- TTC Chicago in numbers

·         8800 m2 storage area

·         1500 m2 office space

·         Event space for 300 people

·         Service capacity to 50 companies at the same time

·         1 km from Chicago O'Hare International Airport

- Tamer Kıran attended the webinar panel

Vahap Munyar, General Coordinator and Author of The World Newspaper, moderated the webinar panel section of the opening program. Attending the panel were TOBB TM Co. Inc. Chairman Tamer Kıran, Branding and Design Support Department Head M. İlker Özdem, Chicago Trade Consultant Uğur Öztürk, TOBB TM Co. Inc. General Manager Noyan Ciritoğlu and TTC Chicago General Manager Atakan Arıca.