Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Stating that the events are identical to those which took place in the February, March and April of 2001 in Turkey, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said, "We have experienced this before.  The difference is we took risks. Both politically and economically. We established our order."

TOBB President stated that the biggest issue is that Greece's government will not take risks, "Are these the faults of the government? No. There has been an accumulation. If you do not move according to the tenets of economy then that accumulation of issues will sooner or later burst. That is what's happening in Greece."

- "There is a lack of leadership in Europe"

Stating that the same things might occur in the South European countries unless precautions are taken, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, "Therefore Greece needs to be a lesson to all the southern European countries. Precautions need to be taken on time. Unfortunately we see that there is a lack of leadership in Europe as there is in Greece.

Structural reforms have been talked about for two years but the political will to enact them is not present. As these have not been enacted the cost keeps growing.

And who will foot this bill? The small and middle sized businesses who are the driving force behind the economies of those countries, of course. The ratio of SMBs to all companies in Europe and Greece reach 95-99%. They will be forced pay the biggest price for all of this.

After those, it is developing countries like us. We have no fault in this. We are forced to pay the price for developed countries' failure to take precautions. This is because we market almost 60% of our goods to Europe. This is why we are affected so strongly.

Greece must set its path as soon as possible with a strong political will. Public debt stocks are too high in comparison to the GNP. This ratio was 120% for us back in 2001 whereas it is 140% for them while we have brought the ratio down to 40% in Turkey.

They have 2 ways out of this. One, make structural reforms; two, lower the expenses of the treasury. This will be done by not raising taxes but lowering them like we did. Governments will have to lower their expenses. This is the way out."

- "We discovered the Turkish entrepreneur"

Touching on the subject of Customs Union, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said, "Many objected to it. But the driving force of the Turkish economy formed the Customs Union. We feared becoming a market for them. Turkey's industry wasn't very advanced however an extraordinary market opened up.

Of course, we discovered something else. We discovered the Turkish entrepreneur. The Turkish entrepreneur takes risks and with the risks he takes he can go and market his goods. He produces quality goods cheaper. This turned the Customs Union into an advantage for us."

Stating that the Customs Union is working but with faults, Hisarcıklıoğlu went on, "We made a mistake back then. Maybe these weren't considered at the time or in the political conditions. The issue is that when the European Union signs a free trade agreement with a third country, that agreement does not include Turkey. We are commercially and integrated to Europe. We have not integrated politically, that is the problem.

Now South Korea or Mexico will not consider free trade agreements with us since they can export to us automatically since they have an agreement with Europe. However our goods are subject to customs when exporting to Mexico. We hope to sign a comprehensive free trade agreement  with these countries. If we are able to do that we will be able to compete in those markets."
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