Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The 8th Turkey-USA Economic Partnership Commission (EOK) Meeting was hosted by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu at the TOBB Union Center with the attendances of the Deputy Undersecretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Ambassador Halit Çevik and the US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez as well as many businessmen.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu, reminding President Obama’s view on bilateral relation through the “model partnership” principle, said, “Our President, Prime Minister and the USA Minister of State Clinton’s attention to the financial facet of bilateral relations is felt throughout every level of bureaucracy. As a result there have been an increasing number of concrete steps being taken in recent years. Today, after approximately 7 months, the Turkey-USA Economic Partnership Commission has convened once again. This is quite gladdening. The fact that these meetings are held frequently is indicative of the importance of the economic and financial relations between Turkey and the USA. It shows that financial factors are also being brought into effect in the efforts to develop bilateral relations.”

- Financial facet of relations

Stating that they picture the financial facet of Turkey-USA relations as bilateral trade and investments, tourism and partnerships especially in third countries in the fields of entrepreneurship and transfer of know-how, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they are using these as the main pillars of their work.

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, reporting that they’ve achieved significant growth in regards to trade volume, reaching a trade volume of approximately 20 billion Dollars; increasing exports by 22% and imports by 30%. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “However, our deficit in foreign trade with the USA is growing. Our ratio of exports to the USA to our total exports amount is shrinking. Our exports to the USA made up 11% of our exports in 2001. As of the end of 2011 this figure has unfortunately regressed down to 3.4%. During this time Turkey’s exports have increased from 30 billion Dollars to approximately 135 billion Dollars. Turkey’s investments in the USA may be small when you consider the size of its economy, however they are important for Turkey. We expect these investments to increaseTurkey’s investments in the USA amount to around 8 billion dollars. Approximately 1,200 USA companies have invested in Turkey; unfortunately, the total investment by the USA in Turkey is only 5% of the total foreign investments in Turkey.”

- Turkey’s investment potential

Stating that Turkey has potential in the fields of renewable energy, pharmaceuticals and real estate, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the new incentives system also makes it more attractive to invest in Turkey. Drawing attention to the fact that Turkey is continually working to better its investment environment, the TOBB President said that in addition to the current activities, raising awareness to increase direct investments to Turkey need to be taking place.

Stating that Turkey is one of the 6 most important tourist destinations in the world, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The number of tourists from the USA to Turkey reached 762,000 in 2011. This number is significant and but it needs to be pointed out that Austria, with a population of 8.5 million, sends almost the same number of tourists to Turkey as the USA. We must increase our cooperation in this regard.”

- We are partners of PNB and GEP

Stating that partnership in third countries also presents a beneficial field for cooperation in addition to entrepreneurship and bilateral relations, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu spoke:

“With this in mind, we are the partners of the two important programs in Turkey of the USA Ministry of State, Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) and The Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP). As part of PNB, we are developing and implementing projects in the fields of entrepreneurship, economic opportunities, science and education along with change. In this regard, the work network we’ve established with Mrs. Madeline Albright has been supplemented with a large group from Turkey.

We’ve presented our projects, our success stories to Vice President Biden and the Ministry of State Clinton. We continue to share our expertise with the other countries of the PNB. We are also working on projects as a part of GEP.

The youth and women’s entrepreneurship councils we’ve established as a part of TOBB benefit from our experiences in GEP. This also holds true for the Venture Capital Sector Council we established last year.

To this end we will also be bringing an Entrepreneurship Delegation and early stage investors from the USA to Turkey at the end of this month.

Furthermore we contributed greatly to the 2nd Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Turkey last year.”

- Cooperation opportunities in third countries

“Lastly, the opportunities for cooperation in third countries are very exciting for all of us. To this day, we’ve accomplished important objectives in Iraq and Afghanistan. The numbers of these endeavors need to be increased and supported.

There are significant opportunities for cooperation in mainly our neighbors, the Balkans, Caucasia, Central Asia and Africa.

To this end I would like to reiterate our suggestion for the development of a comprehensive organized industry zone model.

The success we will attain in this matter would not only contribute to the bilateral relations between Turkey and the USA, but it will also allow the region’s country’s to benefit from Turkey’s transformative role.

As relations deepen, more evident fields of cooperation become. They include more of society. In short, bilateral relations between Turkey and the USA are moving further away from negligible, becoming essential.

We, as the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, aim to maintain the importance of the financial matters between the two countries. We will provide all the support we are able, just as we’ve done until now.”

- US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Fernandez

The US Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Jose W. Fernandez thanked TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu for his hospitality and said that Turkey is a gateway for the USA.

Stating that they need Turkey in order to trade in the Balkans, Middle East and similar regions, Fernandez stressed the importance of the Economic Partnership Commission’s potential.

Stating that TOBB is an indispensable partner for them, Fernandez said, “This year has been very fruitful in terms of our relationship with TOBB.”
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