Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Speaking at the opening ceremony TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu expressed his wishes for the new conference hall to be propitious for Mustafakemalpaşa and thanked Mustafakemalpaşa Municipality President Sadi Kurtulan and District Governer Kazım Karabulut for their support of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Stating that residents of Mustafakemalpaşa were indeed fortunate, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu drew attention to the fact that the land was indeed agriculturally fertile and rich in natural resources. Saying that Mustafakemalpaşa is “brimming with abundance”, Hisarcıkloğlu stated that the residents of Mustafakemalpaşa had no cause to complain, that he was actually upset with them for not prospering even more. “Allah has granted you such abundance; all that is required is your hard work.”

- “We must increase our number of entrepreneurs”

Stating that in order to decrease unemployment, the number of entrepreneurs must increase, Hisarcıkloğlu went on, “Japan’s population is 120 million while the number of entrepreneurs Japan has is 6.3 million, we need to quadruple our number of entrepreneurs in order to reach this ratio.

There are 1.23 million men entrepreneurs in Turkey. 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.

We must support our women entrepreneurs. I want our women entrepreneurs to be role models for younger women. They should encourage young women.”

- “We need to be brand cities”

Hisarcıklıoğlu, emphasizing the importance of attaining brand status, stated that cities need to become brands; that without being a brand, prosperity is hard come-by.

“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.

We will think differently but we will discuss our differences and come to common ground. You give one and receive ten when you become a brand.”

Stating that in the last 30 years a great success story has been written in Turkey, Hisarcıklıoğlu went on, “Thirty years ago this country was one of the most developed 27 countries in the world. Look where we have come today. We are in the top 16. Who did this? We did. Now, we want to run. We want to be in the first ten come the year 2023. And after that, speaking openly, we want world leadership. In order to accomplish this we need to break the chains that bind us. We don’t want money; we want to compete in whatever conditions our competitors are producing in.”

- Call to unity for development

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that in order for cities to prosper, all its constituent parts must work in unison. When developed cities are observed you will see mayors, presidents of municipalities, presidents of chambers and exchanges working together. Hisarcıklıoğlu said that Mustafakemalpaşa’s local agencies working together could do so much more;

“Turkey was host to 300,000 tourists 30 years ago whereas now we receive 30 million. Turkey is the 7th most preferred tourist location in the world. This number did not decrease even during the crisis. Let us find common ground and attract investors. We have but to stand united and not work against each other. If we want success, if we want profit we will embrace each other. Mustafakemalpaşa’s prosperity is Bursa’s, Turkey’s prosperity.”

TOBB President stated that, in order to achieve prosperity, there must be unity, institutionalization, branding and innovation.

- Awards

Individuals;

Tekin Uzkınay
Ali Kıcır
Sabri Kılıç
Sıtkı Şenmenekşe
Türel Şengirgin
Ömer Özkocaman
Ramazan Cengiz
Vedat Süngü
Can Kokudal
Halil Kanar

Companies;

Önallar Yem San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
Akmer Mermer Tur. San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
Köseleciler Gıda San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
Pamukova Madencilik San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
Tunç Topkara Mermer San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
Koyuncu Otomotiv San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
Gündoğdu Mermer San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
Öztek Genel Temizlik San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
Devay Mermer San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.
MBH Gıda San. Ve Tic. Ltd. Şti.