Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Established in November last year with the cooperation of 90 chambers, commodity exchanges and organized industry zones (OIZs) affiliated with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), the Western Anatolia Logistics Organizations (BALO) Inc.’s General Assembly was held in İzmir. Attending the General Assembly were TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, TOBB Board Vice President and Manisa TSO / BALO Inc. Board President Bülent Koşmaz, chamber/exchange presidents and guests.

In his speech, the TOBB President expressed their excitement, “First of all I’d like to congratulate all of you. As the primary representatives of the world renowned Turkish private sector, you have achieved another great success.”

- “The competitive power of the industrialists is decreasing”

“As someone who knows the chamber systems all over the world quite intimately, I can proudly say that nowhere else in the world is there a Chamber – Commodity Exchange system which provides so much added value to its private sector as here. There are no other chamber systems which produce so many projects, solve its members’ problems and keep true to a vision. I would like to thank you all,” said TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu and went on:

“Two weeks ago, we hosted the President Hans Heinrich Driftmann of the Union of German Commerce and Industry Chambers, known as the most powerful Chamber system in the world, and his delegation. We held several meetings with them.

We visited our service-providing associations such as BALO Inc., our University, Hospital and TEPAV. We introduced them to TOBB’s institutional structure. As they were returning to their country, President Driftmann spoke to me saying, ‘I’ve been in almost every country of the world. I’ve never seen such an institution as this which produces projects and services in such great capacity, not just among Chamber Unions but in all institutions. We knew ourselves as the strongest Chambers system in the world, but we have much to learn from you. How did you achieve this?’

To which I replied, ‘I did not achieve the things you have observed. Neither did my friends in the Board of Directors. These were achieved by our Chambers and Commodity Exchanges in 81 provinces and 165 counties. Our union works through a unity of heart and power, not rationale. All of this is the result of unity and solidarity.”

- “GTİ Inc. is proof of prosperity in unity and solidarity”

Emphasizing that BALO Inc. is the result of the mind and power of 74 Chambers and Unions, 15 Organized Industry Zones, UMAT, UTİKAD and TOBB, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Everyone here has made a contribution to this endeavor. It’s not the amount that was contributed, what’s important is being united. We have a very beautiful saying in our culture, ‘Prosperity in unity and solidarity; anguish in dissent.’ We have come to this point with great vision, may beneficence and prosperity follow in our wake. GTİ Inc. is proof of prosperity in unity and solidarity, to which many of the Chambers and Commodity Exchanges in this hall are partners. GTİ has changed both the outlook of Turkey’s land borders, halving time spent in customs and quadrupling service capacity. GTİ invested 286 million TL in 5 years for these modernizations. This means the government saved 286 million TL. Not only did we keep our institutions from spending a single centime, we paid 150 million TL in taxes during those 5 years. Do you know how much the private sector profited from the halving of wait times at customs gates? 450 million TL per year. I’m not the one saying these, it’s international institutions. With the prosperity brought on by unity and solidarity, partners of the company profited, our government profited, the Turkish private sector profited.”

- GTİ is shown as an example by the UN

Stating that there exists no project throughout the world which has been equally beneficial for all involved, the TOBB President said, “This is why GTİ is has been selected by the UN as one of the best projects in the world and is being shown as an example to the whole world. Established with the same mentality, BALO Inc. will grealy benefit its partners, our government and the Turkish private sector. Hopefully we will see the results in 2013 when the first train runs begin.”

- “BALO is the great Anatolia logistics project”

Stating that when they took BALO Inc. in hand, they thought of it as a Logistics Center which would provide service to the West Anatolian Region, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu went on, “However, as we worked more on the project we saw that there is a larger logistical problem throughout the whole of Anatolia. The cost of transportation is especially detrimental to the competitive power of the industrialists in Anatolia. Although we are in agreement with the European Union in regards to the Customs Union, only our western provinces are able to take advantage of it.”

- “Railroads will stop being wasted investments”

Stating that in a time when energy costs present a very significant problem, countries which lower their transportation costs will gain a big advantage, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “To this end, railroads are the mode of transportation which reduces costs and the loss of time the most. Unfortunately we are met with disappointment in this regard in Turkey. Observe; Anatolia had its first railroad only 30 years after the invention of railroad transportation. When you consider that the printing press was introduced here 270 years after its invention, 30 years is extraordinary progress.

This means we were one of the first countries to use railroad transportation after countries like the USA, UK and Russia. The first railroad was laid here, between İzmir and Aydın, where have constructed the center of BALO Inc. The railroad line was later extended to İstanbul and Hejaz. Unfortunately the technology was not developed further. Today, only 1% of our exports are transported using the railroad. We have come to the point that we are unable to conduct a single freight run to Europe. Can you imagine it? Having built one of the very first railroads in the world, you just throw away all that accumulation. This is shame enough for us.

However, especially in the last 8 years, railroads have been the subject of much talk. There have been very important investments made and continue to be made. Turkey is undergoing a transformation in the fields of passenger transportation and high velocity trains. Railroad will no longer be wasted investments. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Prime Minister and the Minister of Transportation and Communications Minister for the revival of the railroads.

I would like to congratulate the TCDD Director General Süleyman Karaman and thank him on behalf of the Turkish private sector. He has been working in great harmony and cooperation with us in the BALO project. BALO will be revolution in the freight train field of this rapid development of our railways.

Turkey will become the main port for transportation as part of the revitalization of the Historical Silk Road Project. I would like to congratulate the Chambers and Commodity Exchanges, OIZs and all of our partners again for contributing in this gigantic project with their vision and labor. I hope that the BALO Inc. General Assembly will be beneficent for our country and salute you all with the utmost respect.”

- Bülent Koşmaz

In his speech, TOBB Board Vice President, Manisa TSO and BALO Inc Board President Bülent Koşmaz stated that they have come to the conclusion that the freight train travels from Manisa to Kapıkule in 11 days.

Stating that this is the main reason that the railway is not the preferred mode of transportation of goods from Anatolia to Europe and went on, “However, with the train route and shortened transportation times we have planned for this project, we achieved greatly reduced freight charge costs. We investigated the railway connections, stations and seaports in which we plan to operate.

Koşmaz stated that it was decided during the TOBB Board of Directors meeting on October 21st, 2010 that a workgroup be established and detailed work on the project be undertaken.

After the speeches, TOBB Board Vice President, Manisa TSO and BALO Inc Board President Bülent Koşmaz presented TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu with a segment of the first railroad built in Turkey between İzmir-Aydın in 1856 as a memento.
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