Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they are very pleased to receive and host the delegation of Turkish-speaking businesspeople. Addressing the importance of unity in language, ideas and co-operation, TOBB President said, “There are two important trends in the world. First; cities have now moved ahead of countries. Cities are becoming brands, not countries. The number of cities with a population of over 1 million in the 1950s was 436, while today this number has reached 776. Cities are competing with one another. Observe this. The second is the recent decisions taken by the Federal Reserve. When the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, the currency in circulation decreases. The money in the circulation is increases when rates fall. When there is less money, the chances of doing business and trading increase. In the 2008 crisis, the US distributed money with zero interest, but has now tightened its monetary policy. This is one of the obstacles to trade.”

- Discovery of entrepreneurship during the Özal period

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated Anatolia is a melting pot where, for example, more Georgians reside in Turkey than do in Georgia. Speaking of an evaluation of a British writer about Turks in 1912, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “According to the author's findings; The Turks primarily want to be soldiers rather than bureaucrats. The last thing they want to be is entrepreneurs. At that time, it was shameful to be an entrepreneur. We changed this idea with Özal. Turkey was it a closed economy until 1980. Our export volume was 3 billion USD, with only 300,000 tourists visiting the country. May God rest his soul, Turgut Ozal said, ‘Go market your goods to the world. He opened up Turkey. Today, we have 170 billion USD in exports and 40 million tourists yearly.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu urged guest entrepreneurs to encourage their children and relatives to become entrepreneurs. “Money is in entrepreneurship,” said the TOBB President. Hisarcıklıoğlu, praising Turkey's entrepreneurial strength, pointed out that one of three television and home appliances in Europe are Turkish goods, "Trade more. Loss is the brother of profit. Don’t be afraid to lose. Try again, do it again. That is the only way to prosper.”