Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The meeting held at İzmir Chamber of Commerce was attended by TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, President of the Union of Arab Chambers Samir Majoul, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Chambers Khaled Hanafy, ambassadors and over 100 business people from 15 Arab countries.

At the opening of the program, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu prayed for the grace of Allah upon the soldiers who were martyred by exposure to methane gas during a search and scanning operation in a cave in the Claw-Lock Operation region and extended his condolences to their families.

Stating that he was pleased to welcome business people and ambassadors from 15 Arab countries in İzmir, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the city is one of the oldest trade centers of the Mediterranean.

Stating that the world is going through a difficult period and that Israel's aggressive policies in Gaza and the region threaten peace and stability, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The normalization process in Syria is ongoing satisfactorily. As TOBB, we will hopefully go to Damascus in 3 days. We will work on how we can support the reconstruction of Syria, how we can revitalize the private sector and entrepreneurship.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that the decision of the European Union and the United States to lift the economic sanctions imposed on Syria will add momentum to the economic development of the country.

Stating that Türkiye exports 270 billion dollars a year to more than 200 countries with 12,600 different products, 94 percent of which are industrial goods, Hisarcıklıoğlu said: “We are also pleased with the development of our trade relations with Arab countries in recent years. Türkiye's exports to Arab countries were only 5 billion dollars 20 years ago. This was 10 percent of Türkiye's exports. In 2024, it exceeded 50 billion dollars and reached 20 percent of Türkiye's total annual exports. In the last 20 years, Türkiye has received more than $50 billion in foreign direct investment from Arab countries. An average of 10 million Arab tourists travel to Türkiye every year. All these are positive developments, but we have the potential to do much better.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the first condition for establishing economic cooperation is the legal basis, and in this direction, as the Islamic Chamber, they established an Arbitration Center in İstanbul.

Stating that the Arbitration Center should be better introduced to business circles, Hisarcıklıoğlu said: “Our borders should not be an obstacle to the mobility of capital, goods and services between our countries. On the one hand, we say we are brothers, on the other hand, we do not fulfill the requirements of the brotherhood law. We impose visa and access barriers. In our culture, brothers and sisters enter each other's homes not by getting visas, but by greeting each other. Let us not forget that business people trade and invest with the country they can reach most easily. For the free movement of goods, the Preferential Trade Agreement initiated within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has been a very important step. The scope of this agreement should be further expanded. On the other hand, in the fields of industry, tourism and agriculture, we should bring together the capital accumulation of Arab countries and the production experience of the Turkish private sector.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu added that in order to increase the entrepreneurial potential of women and to ensure that they take a more active role in the business world, they established the Women Entrepreneurs Board within the Islamic Chamber.

- “The business forum is an opportunity to establish new business partnerships”

Samir Majoul, President of the Union of Arab Chambers, congratulated Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu on his election to the Presidency of the World Federation of Chambers (ICC) for the second time.

Expressing his condolences to those who lost their lives while responding to the forest fires in İzmir, Majoul stated that they found the fight of the firefighting teams admirable.

Stating that the roots of Arab and Turkish relations go deep into history, Majoul said, “Our relations are becoming even more important in the face of the difficulties experienced due to our geopolitical position. Our trade potential is very high and this forum creates an opportunity to establish new business partnerships. Good relations can be established between countries through their investments. We should not stop at this, we need to increase our cooperation even more. We should work hard to support the economic bridges that connect us and realize them through investments. We should develop our economic relations through investments, build mutual trust and realize long-term partnerships. As the Arab world, we should invest in promising value-added sectors in Türkiye.”

Khaled Hanafy, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Chambers, thanked those who contributed to the organization of the forum and noted that he believes that the Turkish-Arab business world will write new success stories in the future.

Following the speeches, bilateral meetings and cooperation opportunities between Türkiye and Arab countries were held at the “round table” meetings.

İzmir Commodity Exchange President Işınsu Kestelli, İzmir Chamber of Commerce President Mahmut Özgener and Aegean Region Chamber of Industry President Ender Yorgancılar also made speeches.

(A.A.)