Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu, speaking at the Haliç Congress Center in Istanbul hosted by Turkish Retail Federation Chairman Mustafa Altunbilek, said that countries are the parts of a whole and Turkey is not cut off from the outside world.

Explaining that the recovery in the economy in the world started in 2017, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Growth is positive in Europe. This is significant for us as Europe is our biggest export market. The growth in Europe is affects Turkey automatically. The global economy is in a growth trend from 3.1% to 3.6%.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the recovery of the economies of all countries except Russia and Brazil has been 2.9% percent in 2016.

Stating that TOBB is focusing on unemployment as the most important point in the happiness of people in the development of Turkey's economy, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Every year in Turkey one million people join the workforce. We have to find a million new jobs every year in Turkey. If we do not find them work, the unhappy will increase; our stability and peace will be disturbed. In this context, with the participation of our President on February 7^th, 2017, the Turkish Economy Forum was held at TOBB. We told the President that we will solve this increasing unemployment issue; all we need is support. And they gave us support of historic proportions. After this, in only 2 months, 762,000 new people were provided with employment.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that to overcome the difficulties in access to financial tools, they are vouching for companies seeking loans through the Credit Guarantee Fund, which is TOBB's partner, and that they are extending guarantees for the demands of the government to 250bn TRY.

Reminding that TOBB and its 365 chambers and exchanges gathered their resources in a pool, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they use this as a cheap loan with an annual interest rate of 9.9%.

Hisarcıklıoğlu explained that they are working on restructuring SME loans, interest-free loan support, restructuring their tax debts, and rewarding those who pay their taxes regularly.

Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that they requested a tax amnesty from the government which they were granted, “Everyone is as innocent as the day were born. But some banks are dragging their feet. We made their job easier. If you continue to drag your feet, our reaction will be sterner. If you do not give credit to our cleared members of due to credit history, our response will be different.”

Noting that the future of the retail industry is e-commerce, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “If you have not discovered e-commerce, you will complain tomorrow just like small grocery stores are complaining today. 15% of total global trade is made from e-commerce. Those who embrace e-commerce in time will benefit greatly. If you want to win, you need to consider e-commerce. As retailers, do not overlook this.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu visited the stands in the foyer area after the opening session.