Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that real sector companies have recently experienced great difficulties in accessing financing and said, “Especially the fact that SME loans do not increase in real terms has a compounding negative impact on the entire country and sectors.”

The TOBB Türkiye Economic Council hosted by Hisarcıklıoğlu was attended by Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and the heads of chambers and commodity exchanges, as well as Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat, Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar and Presidential Strategy and Budget Chairman İbrahim Şenel.

In his speech, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the economic councils initiated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are a very important platform where the public and private sectors come together and convey their problems and suggestions directly to the executive authority.

Pointing out that many of the issues raised on this platform have been resolved in the past, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that at the TOBB General Assembly, they requested President Erdoğan to convene the economic council again and that he found it appropriate.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that he believes that solutions will be produced as in the past regarding the issues raised here and said, “The most important thing for us is to see our government stand by us as we do today. Of course, we are experiencing some difficulties in the economy. But we will not give up the fight.”

Pointing out that the presence of experienced names in the economy gives them morale, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We believe that together we will bring the economy to more solid foundations.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that he would like to share a few issues that stand out as someone who constantly travels around Anatolia and constantly listens to companies and sectors, and continued:

“Our real sector companies have been experiencing great difficulties in accessing financing recently. In particular, the fact that SME loans do not increase in real terms has a compounding negative impact on the entire country and sectors. If we want the abundance of growth to be reflected on all segments, we must support our SMEs and ensure that they have access to appropriate financing opportunities. Secondly, we have the most rigid labor market in the OECD rigidity index, including the Scandinavian countries. Everyone suffers from this. Our legislation almost discourages entrepreneurs who can provide more employment. It prevents our citizens from accessing more job opportunities and earning more. Labor life should be looked at with an approach that rewards employment, not penalizes it.”

- “Investment location problem must be solved”

Hisarcıklıoğlu also demanded that the problem of investment location be solved in order to pave the way for investments:

“The share of industrial investments in the country's surface area is 4 percent in Germany, 2.8 percent in Italy, and even the OECD average is 2.4 percent. A master plan should be prepared to at least double the capacity of industrial land, and financing solutions for land acquisition and building construction should be developed. Thus, our industrialists should utilize their limited capital by investing in more productive areas.”

Pointing out that a new industrial basin planning should be made in the Central Anatolia-Eastern Mediterranean belt, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “With this new industrial basin, we can reduce the burden on Marmara on the one hand, and at the same time, we can open up space in Marmara for high-tech investments.”

- “We are ready to produce”

Pointing out that they rely on the executive and reformist business style of Vice President Yılmaz and the ministers to take steps and provide solutions on these issues, Hisarcıklıoğlu said

“As the business community, first and foremost, we want predictability and a roadmap for the future. We believe that the medium and long-term plans to be prepared by our public administration are very important in order to make business plans and move forward with confidence. For balanced and inclusive growth, we need stability and confidence in the macroeconomy. A concrete roadmap for structural reforms must be put forward. The normalization steps initiated by the new economic administration in monetary policy by acting in this direction are pleasing and should continue. In this context, we are closely following the Medium Term Program prepared under the leadership of Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz. We are ready to run, work and produce. God willing, we will overcome all difficulties and continue on our way. We will continue to produce and labor to make our country stronger, richer and more prosperous.”

- Turkish Vice President Yılmaz

“We want to improve the investment climate in Türkiye, provide a more favorable environment for sustainable growth and further increase the potential of our economy by gradually implementing monetary policy, fiscal policy and structural reform steps,” said Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz.

Stating that within the framework of the preparations for the Medium Term Program (MTP), which they plan to announce in the first half of September, they have recently continued consultations with representatives of the business world, and that they are about to finalize the 12^th Development Plan covering the 5-year period 2023-2028 and will present it to the TGNA in October, Yılmaz emphasized that they attach great importance to the opinions and demands of 365 Chambers and Commodity Exchanges in 81 provinces and 160 districts, which are aware of the current situation and the most important problems of the field and sectors in every corner of Türkiye.

Yılmaz stated that they have implemented solutions to many issues demanded by the business world through the Chambers and Commodity Exchanges under the roof of TOBB, and that they have taken steps together from the expansion of vocational training, modernization of land customs gates, bringing the licensed warehousing system to the country to the digitalization of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges.

- “We will bring to reality new projects worthy of the Turkish Century together”

Noting that they have made the Chambers a one-stop-shop for company establishment procedures, Yılmaz said: “With the strong will and leadership of our President, we dreamed of Togg, Türkiye's domestic and national automobile, together, and we brought it to our nation together, but is Togg enough? It is not. In the coming period, we will bring to reality new projects worthy of the Turkish Century with new ideas and projects similar to Togg.”

Yılmaz said that the world economy has recently been tested by many challenges, including health crises, trade tensions, geopolitical risks, the Russian-Ukrainian war and natural disasters, and that this difficult process has led to a deterioration in the supply and demand balances at the level of countries and regions.

After the opening speeches, the heads of chambers and commodity exchanges took the floor and expressed the issues and solution proposals from the real sector.