Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB Board Member Cengiz Günay, who is in charge of the Council, started his speech by praying for the grace of Allah upon our citizens who lost their lives in the earthquake that affected 11 provinces, including Kahramanmaraş, which took place on February 6, 2023, and deeply shook our country, extending his condolences to the survivors.

In his opening speech, Günay touched on the importance of solving the permanent housing problem as soon as possible and drew attention to the joint mobilization of the regions in order to make the regions a center of attraction in order to recover commercial life.      

Council President Alp Önder Özpamukçu conveyed his condolences for the losses and expressed his sincere gratitude and expressed that everyone is doing their part to heal the wounds in our country.  Stating that 832 of the approximately 4,357 stores in the region, excluding localities, have become unusable, the Council President also drew attention to agriculture and animal husbandry and stated that the villages should be restored quickly. Özpamukçu said that if a rapid recovery is not achieved in the region, problems may arise that may affect food security and supply chain, and touched on the importance of determining the road map for the future by drawing lessons from the disaster.

Stating that unity and solidarity are needed more than ever, the Council Members expressed the assistance provided on the basis of associations and companies. It was emphasized that the meeting was valuable in terms of discussing what can be done for the residents of the region, the retail sector and its employees.

Stating that it is important to discuss what kind of measures will be taken for future natural disasters, the sector representatives agreed on the necessity of making sustainable plans. In this process, the Members stated that the building control tests of the stores and warehouses and the insurances to be made for the retail sector gained more importance, and gave the message that the support steps announced by the State in this period would be closely followed and the problems experienced would be overcome together.