Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Before the first Executive Committee meeting of the new DEIK, which will be held on September 28, 2014 (today), TOBB Board of Directors, which convened at 19.00 on September 27, 2014, reached a consensus regarding TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu not being on the executive committee of the new DEIK.

Hisarcıklıoğlu, wishing DEİK will achieve even bigger successes with its new structure and expand Turkey’s elbowroom in foreign economic relations, said ‘we will be giving our full support to the new DEİK just as we have always given our support to and worked in coordination with all public institutions’. 

The Ministry of Economy with a Regulation issued on September 20, 2014 appointed the new management of DEİK, which was dissolved by the bag bill and restructured under the Ministry of Economy.

Hisarcıklıoğlu sent his resignation letter from his office on the Executive Committee of the new DEIK to the Minister of Economy, Mr. Nihat Zeybekci.

TOBB President’s resignation letter is as follows:

September 27, 2014

Mr. Nihat Zeybekçi

Minister of Economy of the Republic of Turkey

Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), which was established by the Board of Director’s decision of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey  (TOBB) dated July 18, 1986 as part of reforms introduced after 1980 and economy’s outward orientation has been the main supporter of the activities of the Turkish business community abroad with its experience of more than 28 years.

In this process, Turkey’s export volume has increased to more than 150 billion Dollars from 8 billion Dollars; Turkish contractors became number two in the world with their operations abroad; and Turkey has become the biggest manufacturing power in the vast region between Italy and China. In parallel with these developments, DEIK enlarged its operations and aspired to support Turkish private sector in global markets. Furthermore, DEIK has carried out many activities in coordination with all public institutions and agencies including Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Development, Ministry of Customs and Trade, Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turley (ISPAT) and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) to promote foreign economic relations.

Especially after I became the President of TOBB in 2001, we have worked very hard to strengthen the structure of DEIK and to equip it with an institutional structure. In 2004, within the framework of the works on renewing the TOBB Law, we have recommended some new provisions to the TOBB Law numbered 5174 to give DEIK a separate legal entity and these recommendations have been approved by our supreme Parliament. With this, DEIK, which was operating as part of TOBB, has attained an institutional structure that was established and managed jointly by private sector organizations. Consequently, the number of founding organizations including TOBB, which was 9 in 2001, became 42 by 2014. DEIK, having financial difficulties before 2001, became an organization that can stand   on its own feet.

265 DEIK representations have been formed at the branches of founding organizations in Anatolia in order to serve efficiently to business people in 81 provinces.  Thanks to joint activities with founding organizations, the members of the said organizations had access to foreign markets under DEIK’s coordination.

The number of bilateral Business Councils, which was 65 in 2001, reached up to 119 by August 2014 in parallel with Turkey’s increasing efficiency in the world. Sectoral business councils have been established in the fields of health tourism, education economics and international technical consultancy to improve the service export capabilities of our country.

Upon DEIK executive committee decision on December 26, 2007, we have established the ‘World Turkish Businessmen Council’ (DTİK) aiming to get Turkish business diaspora organized efficiently. We have made sure that this organization reaches out to the grassroots by establishing country and city representations in all countries where Turkish business people live. We have assumed a significant role in getting Turks living abroad together, establishing permanent contacts among them and strengthening their ties with the motherland.

Thanks to such steps taken, total number of events organized at home and abroad which was 113 in 2001 reached to 792 in 2013, which is a 7 fold increase. In these events in which more than 15 thousand foreign business people participated, we have hosted 28 foreign heads of state and prime ministers. There were more than 120 in attendance at the ministerial level. All these events have been organized within the knowledge and guidance of all relevant public institutions and agencies including the President’s Office, Prime Ministry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economy.

We have achieved all these in DEIK thanks to the outstanding efforts of our employees in addition to our founding organizations, business council presidents, members and the support of relevant public institutions and agencies. We have worked altogether to strengthen Turkish economy further, facilitate doing business abroad for Turkish business people and to establish better and more institutional ties with our counterparts. We wanted to have our finger in the pie, which is the success story of Turkey.

The Parliament ordained to close the existing DEIK and set up a new DEIK under the Ministry of Economy with the Law numbered 6552, which was passed on September 11, 2014. On September 20, 2014, the Ministry of Economy issued a Regulation defining the structure of the new DEIK under the Ministry of Economy. As part of the Turkish state, DEIK will now be equipped with more instruments and capabilities since it will be able to use the public power and government opportunities. We sincerely wish that DEIK will achieve even bigger successes with its new structure and expand Turkey’s elbowroom further in foreign economic relations.

The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) keeps striving to contribute to the achievements of our country and to make Turkish private sector even more successful at home and abroad. We will give our full support to the new DEIK just as we have always worked in coordination with and given our full support to all relevant public institutions and agencies.

In relations with foreign private sector organizations, the fundamental thing is to have private sector-to-private sector contacts. Thus, we believe it will be more beneficial if we support the new DEIK from outside. May I take this opportunity to thank you most graciously for the duty you have bestowed on me in the new DEIK and request you to accept my resignation.

M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu

TOBB President