Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The meeting was attended by Trade Minister Mehmet Muş, European Commission Member for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Faruk Kaymakcı and representatives of the business world from Türkiye and the EU.

TOBB President and EUROCHAMBRES Vice President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech at the opening of the meeting, stated that the war in Ukraine makes life difficult for everyone, stressing that high inflation, energy supply, scarcity and high energy prices have a direct negative impact on economies and societies.

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that it is important for the EU and Turkish business circles, the Turkish government and the European Commission to come together and talk about the current situation and joint solutions.

Reminding that the event is a part of the Türkiye-EU Business Dialogue Project, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Türkiye is a candidate country for EU membership. Türkiye and the EU are in the Customs Union. Bilateral trade in goods has increased more than 4 times in the last 25 years.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that Türkiye is the 6^th largest trading partner of the EU, adding that the EU is by far Türkiye's largest import and export partner, as well as the main source of investment, one-third of Türkiye's imports come from the EU and 41 percent of the country's exports go to the EU, the total trade in goods between the EU and Türkiye reaches 132 billion euros.

Pointing out that Türkiye's exports to the EU are around 63 billion euros, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “These exports consist mainly of machinery and transportation vehicles, clothing, agriculture and raw materials. EU exports to Türkiye amounted to 70 billion euros. These exports are dominated by machinery and transportation equipment, chemicals, fuel and mining products.”

Stating that the two-way service trade between the EU and Türkiye has reached 27 billion euros, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We know that we can do more as the business world. We need the support of the Turkish government, EU member states and the European Commission. In the era of the Green Deal, we see the modernization of the Customs Union as the empowerment we need most.”

- Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for European Union (EU) Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı expressed their pleasure to hold the meeting in İstanbul and EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said that they would like to see it more often in Türkiye.

Kaymakcı stated that an important issue that should not be forgotten in Türkiye-EU relations is the accession process and continued: “The importance of bilateral trade was underlined in the speeches. Investment levels, the level of trading were mentioned. It's beautiful. Since the Customs Union between Türkiye and the EU began in 1996, a trade volume of 1.3 trillion euros has taken place. This is also important. This is a figure that can make a difference in Europe if we can cooperate more, if we can have more dialogue.”

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs Kaymakcı stated that Türkiye wants to be a part of the European emission trading system and pointed out that the increasingly complex visa procedures should be facilitated.

Kaymakcı, who invited Oliver Varhelyi and the commissioners on the visa system to work together, continued: “We need a visa facilitation until travel with the Schengen visa is possible. Our business community needs to be prioritized in this regard. We are also facing a serious problem in terms of transportation. It needs help in terms of connecting with the rest of Europe. Not only Turkish businesspeople, but also the European business community wants Europe to start negotiations to modernize the Customs Union as soon as possible.”

Kaymakcı pointed out that there is still a serious blockade in high-level dialogue meetings with the EU. He pointed out that high-level dialogue meetings on energy, transport, economy and foreign policy should also be held.

- “The whole world is going through a very important change”

Trade Minister Mehmet Mus said there is a long-term and important cooperation between Türkiye and the EU covering many areas such as trade, security, migration and energy.

Emphasizing that trade has a central role in the relations between Türkiye and the EU among all these areas, Muş stated that the Ankara Agreement and the Customs Union constitute the skeleton of the cooperation between the parties.

Muş stated that the trade volume between the EU and Türkiye during the Customs Union period is expected to reach 200 billion dollars by the end of this year with an increase of about 6 times, and noted that the Customs Union has enabled the establishment of integrated value chains thanks to the implementation of common trade policies and legislation in many areas such as competition policy and intellectual property rights.

Stating that EU and Turkish companies have created employment and shared prosperity in both the EU and Türkiye in this context, Muş pointed out the difficulties they face in this process since the 25 years of the Customs Union have been completed.

- “We need to keep Türkiye with us as an important business partner”

EUROCHAMBRES President Luc Frieden, in his speech at the meeting, which he attended via video conference, stated that there is nothing better than establishing a dialogue between business circles to strengthen the relationship between Türkiye and the EU, noting that this high-level business dialogue takes place at a time of unprecedented geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges.

“We have a war right next door. We have extremely high energy prices. We have inflation causing great problems for the people of Europe and in this context I think it is more important than ever to work together instead of alienating each other.”

Emphasizing that the economic relationship between the EU and Türkiye is quite deep, Frieden said, “More needs to be done. We need to keep Türkiye with us as an important business partner. Then we need to modernize the Customs Union,” he said.

- High-level participation from business organizations

Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) President Nail Olpak, Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK) President Bendevi Palandöken, Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TURKONFED) Vice Chairman Mehmet Gün, Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD) Vice Chairwoman Serpil Veral and Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions (TİSK) Deputy Chairman Suat Çalbıyık attended the meeting, the second part of which was closed to the press.

Osman Nuri Önügören, Chairman of the Diplomatic Relations Commission of the Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD), Fikret Kileci, Vice President of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), Emine Erdem, President of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye (KAGİDER), Ayhan Zeytinoğlu, President of the Economic Development Foundation (IKV), Nurten Öztürk, President of the TOBB Women Entrepreneurs Council, as well as foreign businessmen were present at the meeting.