Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

In his speech at the opening of the conference, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they have always stood by the Turkish Cypriots in their just endeavors and will continue to do so.

Stating that the TRNC economy should be able to stand on its own feet, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The existence of a strong private sector is also very important for this. Because if the private sector is strong, the economic development process will also be strong. We have been working with the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce for a long time to develop the private sector. We act jointly for the development of economic and commercial relations between Türkiye and Northern Cyprus.”

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that with the Türkiye-TRNC Chamber of Commerce Forum, they focused on the development of both bilateral trade and investment relations and that they also work together to improve the investment environment.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they also supported the TRNC's efforts to integrate with the world, and in this context, they made initiatives for the proper representation of the Turkish Cypriot business world in the International Chamber of Commerce, the Islamic Chamber, EUROCHAMBRES and the Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Stating that they believe that the Export Support Office established within the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce will contribute to the development of Northern Cyprus exports, Hisarcıklıoğlu said:

“We will continue to contribute to the development of the economy of Northern Cyprus by working together with the Cypriot business community. We want to expand the areas of cooperation between our governments such as the development of customs infrastructure, the establishment of a product safety system in line with EU legislation, and the support of expo participation. As the business world, we will continue to contribute to these efforts. As our Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz emphasized during his recent visit to the TRNC, we are working as TOBB for a cold storage investment near Güzelyurt.”

- Deputy Minister of Trade Mahmut Gürcan

Deputy Minister of Trade Mahmut Gürcan stated that as they have emphasized in all national and international platforms, their main policy in their approach to Cyprus is the full and equal recognition of the independence and sovereignty of the Turkish Cypriots by the international community.

Gürcan said that at the Türkiye-TRNC Joint Committee 12^th Term Meeting held in January, they determined action plans for cooperation in areas such as trade, customs, e-commerce, product safety, human resources, free zones, health, legal infrastructure.

Mahmut Gürcan stated that Türkiye, which is the regional base of many international companies today with its population of 85 million, geographical location and large-scale domestic market, is the TRNC's gateway to the world and that they are in cooperation with the TRNC in reducing the effects of the difficulties arising from the isolation that the TRNC is exposed to and will continue to do so.

Deputy Minister of Trade Gürcan said, “We achieved a trade volume of 2.5 billion dollars with the TRNC in 2023. In addition to increasing our trade volume of 2.5 billion dollars in the coming years, one of our main goals is to expand the TRNC's share of this trade.”

Stating that they do not find Türkiye's investment of 360 million dollars in the TRNC sufficient, Gürcan stated that efforts are underway to expand investments and move them even higher.