Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Representatives of the Turkish and German business worlds discussed the issue of re-strengthening business life in the regions affected by the February 6 earthquake at the “Turkish-German Conference: The Role of the European Private Sector in Reinforcing Business Life in Earthquake Affected Regions” held in Berlin, the capital of Germany. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also supported the meeting with video messages.

M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), Peter Adrian, President of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), Rolf A. Königs, President of the Turkish-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TD-IHK) and Pınar Ersoy, President of the German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Türkiye) called for solidarity and cooperation in the face of the devastating earthquake that struck southeastern Türkiye and parts of Syria on February 6, 2023. Following the first meeting in Berlin, follow-up conferences are planned in other centers.

- Hisarcıklıoğlu's call to the European business world

In his speech here, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the support of the European business world will be very important for these projects while talking about the projects to be done after the earthquake. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “I invite the European business world, especially Germany, to provide supplies from the earthquake zone, because the people in the earthquake zone need to stand on their own feet through production and trade rather than financial support. This is the best support we can do for them. As TOBB, we will provide you with all kinds of support in this process.”

Explaining that as TOBB, they set up a crisis desk on the morning of the earthquake and provided intensive support starting with the urgently needed ones, Hisarcıklıoğlu underlined that they have provided nearly 5,000 trucks, 7 ships and 6 airplanes full of aid so far. The President of TOBB also thanked the business representatives of all countries, especially Germany, who stood by them in this process.

Peter Adrian, President of the DIHK, said: “As a business community, we too have an obligation to support our Turkish partners so that they can help themselves on the ground. Our goal must be to help companies in the affected areas to generate additional orders and restart their business as soon as possible,” said TD-IHK President Rolf A. Königs. Königs gave the message that the cooperation will continue. AHK Türkiye President Pınar Ersoy said that almost every member of the AHK has donated money and in-kind donations and added: “The German business world has also stood by Türkiye since the first day of the disaster.”

- Video message of support from Erdoğan and Scholz

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also supported the meeting with video messages. Pointing out that 14 million people were personally affected by the earthquake, President Erdoğan said: “Our nation mobilized for the region. TOBB took its place among the biggest actors of the relief and construction process. We will remember with gratitude everyone who stood by us on this difficult day.” Erdoğan thanked German Chancellor Scholz for being with them in this process.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the other hand, said that the devastation has also deeply affected them and that a lot of aid has been delivered from Germany. Reminding that more than 100 billion dollars of damage has been caused, Scholz stated that reinvestments and reconstruction are required for this, and pointed out the importance of working together with the local business world for the reconstruction of the region.

- Topics discussed at the conference

Ahmet Başar Şen, Ambassador of Türkiye to Germany, also made evaluations in the following sessions of the conference. Discussed in the session titled “Economic Perspective and Potential Cooperation in the Region” moderated by Ali Aslan were Technical and mentoring support for trade in the region, (How to build a bridge between technical and mentoring support needs and support and mentoring providers?), Procurement from the earthquake zone - industrial and agricultural products. (Raw material and intermediate goods procurement platform from suppliers operating in the region). Mustafa Buluntu, President of Kahramanmaraş Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Çağlayan Dündar, Head of the Real Sector and R&D Implementation Department of TOBB, Dr. Kirsten Scholl, Head of the European Department of the Federal Ministry of Economy and Climate Action (BMWK) and Ben Butters, CEO of Eurochambres participated as speakers in the session.

Panels were held in the afternoon part of the conference. The panel on “Green and energy efficient reconstruction of infrastructure and housing” moderated by Thilo Cunz, President of Building International, German Energy Agency, was attended by Nükhet Demiren, Board Member of Türk Ytong and Board Member of AHK, Çağla Düzbasan, Board Member of RailOne Ilgaz and Ilgaz Construction, and representatives of Siemens Energy and the Presidency/Ministry Development Agency.

The panel on “Education and employment prospects for people in the region” was moderated by Dr. Thilo Pahl, CEO of AHK Türkiye. Nihat Sorgeç, General Manager of Bildungswerk Kreuzberg, Selçuk Özer, General Manager of SEL Versicherungsmakler, General Assembly Member of IHK Heidenheim, Prof. Dr. Ferit Küçükay, Coordinator of the Turkish German University (TDU), Ali Koban, General Manager of ISS Netzwerk gGmbH and a representative of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) also took part in the panel.