Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The foundation has been laid for the modernization of the Van Kapıköy Customs Gate by TOBB and the Customs and Commerce Ministry. The Van Kapıköy Customs Gate will be modernized with the build-operate-transfer model by Customs and Tourism Enterprises Co. Inc. (GTİ), a TOBB subsidiary. Attending the ceremony were TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Customs and Commerce Minister Bülent Tüfenkci, Deputy Minister Fatih Çiftçi, bureaucrats as well as chamber and exchange presidents.

Stating that the modernized gate will increase Van’s trade volume, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Not just with Iran, but the Middle East as a whole and the Turkic republics. With this, we hope to hear more good news in regards to Van’s infrastructure development such as the construction of a Logistics Center and OIZ in Van.

Our dream is to divert the global trade path to this region again. We are working to this end. With Kapıköy, we are a step closer to that dream. This will be Anatolia’s gateway to Iran and Central Asia. Van will prosper; Turkey will prosper. Lake Van will be the meeting point of its region and a tourism center. We will all prosper together.”

Stating that the UN has shown TOBB’s customs gates modernization project as best-in-practice, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “They have told the whole world that, ‘if you want to speed up your border crossings, to make them safer, do what Turkey has done’.”

Reporting that they have not taken a single cent from the government in bringing the customs modernization project to reality, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the project has in fact multiplied the government’s tax income. “We have so far modernized 10 customs gates with the latest technology. Wait times have dropped to half of what they were previously in the modernized gates. Crossings have quadrupled. The Chamber-Exchange community has invested 725 million TRY in order to bring this about. As a result 372 million TRY in taxes have been paid through these gates. In total, we have enabled a billion TRY income for the government. Not only the government but also the private sector has profited from this. According to a study by the ministry, due to reduced wait times, the private sector has saved 410 million TRY in freight costs. This means Turkish industrialists, traders and entrepreneurs are earning 410 million TRY annually.”