Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The TOBB-US Chamber of Commerce Memorandum of Understanding Signing Ceremony was hosted by TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu with the participation of Deputy Minister of Trade Mustafa Tuzcu and Senior Vice President of the US Chamber of Commerce Khush Choksy at TOBB Twin Towers.

In his speech here, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they have been working together with the US Chamber of Commerce for a long time. Stating that they have agreed on a series of joint events in Türkiye and the USA in this year's action plans, Hisarcıklıoğlu made the following assessments: “The US Chamber of Commerce Regional Office will continue to provide services at the İstanbul Office of our Association. We will prepare joint concept papers on different aspects of Türkiye-US economic relations. We will organize workshops on market entry, localization and pricing in the healthcare sector. We will organize an event in Türkiye that will bring together senior executives from US companies and senior executives from Türkiye. We will organize investment conferences in Türkiye and the US. We will organize mutual trade delegations. We will prepare activities to strengthen cooperation in post-earthquake reconstruction, health, defense, climate change, energy, information and communication technologies, digital economy (e-commerce), tourism, infrastructure and women entrepreneurship. We will carry out joint activities to strengthen cooperation in third countries, especially Kazakhstan.”

- Hisarcıklıoğlu gave information on bilateral trade

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that nearly 2,000 American companies are currently operating in Türkiye and their total investments are close to 15 billion dollars.

Referring to the fact that Turkish companies have invested around 11 billion dollars in the US, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We invite US investors to invest more in Türkiye.

As TOBB, we have launched the Trade Center in Chicago, which will contribute to bilateral investment and trade.

With the support provided by this center, our companies have the opportunity to enter the US market more easily. I would like to invite US companies to benefit from the services of this Trade Center.”

Emphasizing that the level of relations should be raised to the point where it should be for two allied countries, Hisarcıklıoğlu expressed his belief that trade between Türkiye and the US should be regulated with more liberal rules.

- Deputy Minister of Trade Mustafa Tuzcu

Deputy Minister of Trade Mustafa Tuzcu stated that the investments of US companies in Türkiye and Turkish companies in the US have increased in recent years and said, “We have on our agenda to achieve the 100 billion dollar trade target with the US.”

Tuzcu said that this visit of the US Chamber of Commerce was the most impressive and comprehensive one among the ones made so far, and that the US delegation came together with stakeholders from all sectors in 2 days and held bilateral meetings. Pointing out that the investments of US companies in Türkiye and Turkish companies in the US have increased in recent years, Tuzcu said, “The total investment of US companies is close to 15 billion dollars. Bilateral trade volume has reached a record level of 34 billion dollars, and there is an opportunity to reach 40 billion dollars this year. Our agenda is to reach the 100 billion dollar trade target with the US,” he said.

Referring to the course of relations with the US in the last 1.5 years, Tuzcu said that the ongoing economic partnership will continue.

Underlining that Türkiye and the US continue to cooperate in many areas, especially in critical sectors such as defense and digital transformation, Tuzcu noted that in this context, they expect improvements to be made in the visa application so that cooperation can continue to increase.

Stating that the work plan for the next 2 years will be determined with the TOBB-US Chamber of Commerce Memorandum of Understanding, Tuzcu said that they are ready to work together from now on as they have done so far.

- Khush Choksy, Senior Vice President of the US Chamber of Commerce

Khush Choksy, Senior Vice President of the US Chamber of Commerce, also thanked TOBB for their cooperation.

Choksy congratulated Hisarcıklıoğlu on his election as President of the World Chambers Federation (WCF), which gathers the chambers of commerce and industry and associations of 115 countries under one roof, and said: “Türkiye and the US relations are gradually increasing. As part of the event, we came to Türkiye with a large number of company representatives from many different sectors. We have a number of proposals to improve bilateral trade volume, and we also talked about private and public sector dialogue. We have always been very happy to work with TOBB. We look forward to working in a much more robust and focused way next year, and we will organize business delegation events.”

Choksy stated that they held meetings in many areas such as defense, e-commerce, corporate tax and discussed important issues.

Pointing out that they are working to abolish the Section 232 application, which imposes additional taxes on steel and aluminum products, Choksy stated that they support the facilitation of visa access for business people and the modernization of the Customs Union.

After the speeches, Deputy Minister of Trade Tuzcu, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu and Choksy signed the TOBB-US Chamber of Commerce Memorandum of Understanding.