Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Hisarcıklıoğlu attended the “Contributors to the Economy and Tax Record Holders” award ceremony in Artvin. In his speech, the TOBB President said that the way to prosper in Turkey and worldwide is through entrepreneurship and went on, “You are as rich as the number of entrepreneurs you have.”

Emphasizing that there are Anatolia cities in Turkey with advanced economies, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the sole reason these cities are successful is due to the fact that their mayor, municipality president, parliament representatives and civil society organizations work together.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that every assistance should be rendered in order to open the way for the star of the economy, the Turkish business community and said:

“Let’s raise our sons and daughters as entrepreneurs for the future of Turkey. If we can manage that, you will have ensured the salvation of a single person. As a result, we will all become richer. Turkey needs to find employment for 750,000 people annually. If we don’t, the burden will be on all of us. Finding employment for that many people depends on Turkey’s entrepreneur numbers. We must support our youth in regards to entrepreneurship. Ten years from now, the number of people joining the work force will have reached a million. This is why we have established women and youth entrepreneurship councils in all 81 provinces.”

Drawing attention to the low ratio of women entrepreneurs, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the ratio of women entrepreneurs to the total is only 6% while women make up 50% of the total population.

Stating that he has high hopes for the future of the country, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We have gained a lot of ground as the Turkish private sector. 30 years ago, Turkey had an export volume of 3 billion USD, 90% of which was agricultural goods. Today we have an export volume of 152 billion USD. We don’t have petroleum or natural gas but we do have an extraordinary enterprising spirit; that is what we have discovered.”

Stating that countries are racing towards prosperity, Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that in order to be among the top 10 economies of the world Turkey needs to change its mentality and system, “If we can achieve these we can be the richest country in the world.”