Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu attended the World Turkish Economic Council (DTİK) Asia Pacific Regional Committee Meeting as a part of his program during Prime Minister Erdoğan’s Japan visit. Attending the meeting with him were Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi, TOBB Vice Presidents Halime Mete and İbrahim Çağlar, TİM President Mehmet Büyükekşi and MÜSİAD President Nail Olpak.​

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, along with the Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi, met with the CEOs of Japan’s prominent companies. Discussed during the meeting, which took place during the Prime Minister Erdoğan’s Far East visits, were bilateral business opportunities.​

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu visited Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah İşler and the Youth and Sports Minister Çağatay Kılıç to congratulate him on his appointment. Drawing attention to the concepts of peace, stability and the rule of law, Hisarcıklıoğlu defined these as imperative for the continuation of the positive development of Turkey in the last 10 years.​

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu visited the European Union (EU) Minister and Chief Negotiator Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu at his office. Congratulating the appointment of Çavuşoğlu, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “It is imperative that we strengthen Turkey position as a country of institutions and rules throughout the EU process.” TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that Turkey must be powerful both domestically and internationally, “In this regard, we must be diligent in conducting ourselves within the confines of a state of constitutional law.”​

The President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu visited the Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekçi and the Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ to congratulate them on their appointments. Stating that the Turkish private sector is closely following the developments of the recent days, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The esteem of our companies and businessmen, which are assets of our country, should not be so easily besmirched. We must be diligent in conducting ourselves within the confines of a state of constitutional law.”​

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu attended the 6th 2013 Industrial Establishments Sector Performance Assessment Organization held by the Kocaeli Chamber of Industry.​

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu visited the Kocaeli Chamber of Commerce and met with the Council Members. ​

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said in his letter of condolence in regards to the passing of the famous artist Adnan Şenses, “Mr. Şenses has contributed great to Turkish music, winning the hearts of many and was one of our most prized artists. We are deeply saddened by his passing.”​

According to the research of the Media Tracking Center (MTM), the person most talked about in the Turkish business community in the year of 2013 was TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu.​

Speaking at the TOBB Commodity Exchanges Council Meeting, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that Turkey is in need of agricultural reforms, stressing the need to improve productivity in agriculture. Stating that Turkey needs to increase its agricultural production to 150 billion USD and its exports to 40 billion USD, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “When you consider that our goal for 2023 is an exports volume of 500 billion USD, 11.5% of our exports will need to be conducted by the agriculture sector. We believe that it can do this. Hopefully, we will bring our agricultural sector and economy to another level in 2023.”​