Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Speaking at the opening of the ceremonies, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that Turkey is confronted by two issues; prosperity and unemployment. Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that, in order to both prosper and to abolish unemployment, the number of entrepreneurs needs to increase.

Saying that Japan’s population is 120 million while the number of entrepreneurs Japan has is 6.3 million, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that we would need to quadruple our number of entrepreneurs in order to reach this ratio.

Stating that there are 1.23 million men entrepreneurs in Turkey, Hisarcıklıoğlu went on, “Half the population are women. There are 70,000 women entrepreneurs in Turkey. However I think the only way to prosper and provide employment to people is to support women entrepreneurs. I want our women entrepreneurs to be role models for younger women. Success stories of women entrepreneurs should occupy more space in newspapers, they should encourage young women.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu also drew attention the Women Entrepreneurs Board established as part of TOBB in order to increase women entrepreneur numbers.

Stating that there were very few companies in Turkey over a hundred years old, Hisarcıklıoğlu urged businessmen to not discriminate amongst their children and form a company constitution in order to ensure continuity of their firms.

- “We cannot prosper without becoming brands”

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized the importance of becoming a brand on a city basis, saying that without becoming a brand prosperity is impossible.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated, “Make your business a brand. You have everything to make this work. We have a saying; ‘Benediction and blessing in unity, torment in dissent’. We will come together to find benediction and blessing. Look at the cities which have become brands in Turkey. Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Kayseri, Konya, Denizli are among many examples. How did these become brands? When their mayor, president of municipality, parliamentarians, presidents of chambers of commerce and commodity exchanges, civil society organizations all come together and work in cohesion, benedictions and blessings abound. You give one and receive ten when you become a brand.”

- “Those who regularly pay their taxes should be awarded”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that in the prior legislative term, revolutionary legislations were passed, and that these were beneficial to Turkey and its people, satisfying many of the business worlds’ legislative requests.

Stating that with the Debts Law, many taxpayers which were in a bind because of the crisis were given respite, “We are very pleased with the Debts Law. But we also need to award those who regularly pay their taxes. Those who, even in a crisis, worked to pay their debts to the government ought to be rewarded.”

- OTSO Board Chairman Ergün Efendioğlu and OTSO Council President Bekir Aydın

OTSO Board Chairman Ergün Efendioğlu and OTSO Council President Bekir Aydın also made speeches wherein they emphasized their pride in their members, who are the driving force of the region’s economy and provided information on their projects to support TOBB’s many aims, for instance, UMEM ABILITY’10, young and women entrepreneurs. TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu was presented a gift to commemorate the occasion.

-The first 10 firms receiving awards for the Corporations Tax

• Cargill Tarım Gıda San ve Tic A.Ş.
• Faurecia Polifleks Otomotiv San. ve Tic. A.Ş
• Ormo Yün İplik San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
• Kırpart Otomotiv Parçaları San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
• Hatırlı Petrol Ürünleri San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
• Umman Makine San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
• Orhangazi Petrol Ürünleri San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
• Örgün Kalsit San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
• Ormis Makina San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
• Efendioğlu Mermer San. ve Tic. A.Ş.

- Awarded for top 10 in export

• Componenta Dökümcülük San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
• Asil Çelik San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
• Ormo Yün İplik San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
• Okiteks Tekstil Pazarlama Ticaret A.Ş.
• Kırpart Otomotiv Parçaları San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
• Sirena Marine Denizcilik San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
• Zey-Tur-San Gıda San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
• Namsal Gıda San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
• Efendioğlu Mermer San. ve Tic. A.Ş.
• Cargill Tarım Gıda San ve Tic A.Ş.

- Members Awarded for top 10 in income tax

• Orhan KOCABEY
• Vahit GÖK
• Şaban Çetin ÇOKLAR
• Selami YAZGANOĞLU
• Mehmet SEZGİN
• İzzet SEKBAN
• Ersan İNCE
• Ali ALTUNIŞIK
• Ahmet AYDIN
• Recep TORUN

- Members completing their 27th year

• Ahmet AYDIN
• Yaşar CAMBAZ
• Hikmet ÇOKLAR
• Selami YAZGANOĞLU
• Hasan AYDIN
• F. Akın SEZGİNALP
• Erdoğan TEOMAN
• Bekir TÜRKELİ
• Behçet ALPER
• Mehmet SEZGİN

- Special Jury Award

• Raif KAPLANOĞLU
• Yüksel SERT
• Nilgün DURMAZ
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