Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President Hisarcıkloğlu emphasized that countries were in flux due to the economic crisis in the EU and the political upheaval in the Middle East.

Criticizing being 65th on the “Doing Business 2011” chart, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We want to run, we want to be in the top 10 economies, but with this system, this is as far as we can go. If we can change the system, we will be in the top 10. We don’t want money. We just want to compete on fair terms with our rivals.
Stating that Turkey’s current deficit is rising, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that this needs to be addressed, “Turkey was first in growth for 2010 in Europe and the fifth worldwide. In 2009 we were one of the 10 fastest diminishing countries. Becoming aware of the threat in 2010 we turned it to our advantage and entered the first 5 with 8.9% growth. The private sector’s part in this is 10.1%, the public administration’s is 0.8%. Because of our foreign current deficit our growth suffers by 4.4%. The numbers of new establishments have increased by 18% in comparison with the first 5 months of the year, 10% for İzmir.

- Agriculture no longer just for consumption

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu warned that the most important threat to the world was hunger and that the importance of agriculture is rapidly growing. Even though Turkey is one of the 10 countries with the largest amount of arable land in the world, it is not utilized properly; Hisarcıklıoğlu gave cotton as an example,
“They told us, ‘Leave cotton and textile well enough alone’. We did, and what happened? No other goods’ price has gone up so dramatically. We are importing cotton. Who is paying for it? All of us. Agriculture is not just for consumption any more, it is for making money.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that it was time to switch to economies of scale; that it was necessary to consolidate the land and that as arable land keeps getting divided into smaller numbers, migrations out of the rural areas increase.

İzmir Commerce Exchange Board President Işınsu Kestelli also tounched on the importance of a new, inclusive constitution in his welcoming speech.

After TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu’s speech, the celebratory 120th year cake was cut in the meeting held at the İzmir Swiss Hotel, attended by İzmir Mayor Cahit Kıraç, İzmir Commerce Exchange Board President Işınsu Kestelli and many guests.
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