Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The Turkish Economy Forum organized by TOBB and hosted by M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu at the TOBB Twin Towers was attended by the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Prime Minister Deputies Numan Kurtulmuş, Mehmet Şimşek and Nurettin Canikli, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Faruk Özlü, Labor and Social Affairs Minister Mehmet Müezzinoğlu, Economy and Industry Minister Nihat Zeybekci, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak, Minister of Food, Agriculture and Livestock Faruk Çelik, Minister of Customs and Commerce Bülent Tüfenkci, Minister of Development Lütfi Elvan and Minister of Finance Naci Ağbal.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stating that following the terrorist organizations like PKK and Daesh, FETO's treacherous coup attempt had also caused many difficulties for the country, “We showed that with the leadership of our President and the strength of our nation, we have the power to overcome all of them.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu remarked that despite the turbulence, the private sector invested 155 billion TRY in machinery and equipment in the last year, exported 141 billion USD of goods, and obtained 38 billion USD foreign currency income in the tourism, maritime and contracting sectors.

- “Tax cuts were a good move”

Hisarcıklıoğlu underscored the fact that despite the positive developments, there are also troubles. He went on as follows:

“80% of the Turkish economy is due to domestic consumption. The world economy and global trade have slowed down for a long time and it has become even more important to keep our domestic market alive in this environment. Let's not forget that economy is like composite containers. You need employment for production; you need domestic consumption for production. Now it is time to keep your hand in order to make bigger leaps in the future. The deduction of tax on home appliances, furniture and housing sectors by the government has been a right move in this respect.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that confidence and stability lay at the basis of all the achievements Turkey has achieved in recent years. He said that crises occur when there is no trust and stability.

- President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

In his speech, President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “The facts have emerged to show us that we will have difficulty in continuing our way with confidence and full capacity without completely crushing the heads of terrorist organizations like FETO, Daesh and PKK.”

Erdoğan expressed that they have taken every step of the economy through consultation and said that they came together today for such a consultation. Erdoğan said that consultation has a special place in their values system. Erdoğan said that business people’s opinions about the country, cities, sectors are always important.

Erdoğan underlined that consultation has made a great contribution to growth of Turkey in the last 14 years of 300% in total and underlined the fact that today and in the future, cooperation will accelerate the march towards 2023 goals.

President Erdoğan expressed that business circles, organizations represented under the TOBB framework, deserve praise for their firm stance during the coup attempt of FETO, said:

“I expect you to be more sensitive to the cleansing of the business from FETO. The facts have emerged to show us that we will have difficulty in continuing our way with confidence and full capacity without completely crushing the heads of terrorist organizations like FETO, Daesh and PKK. I offer my gratitude to each of you individually for what you have done so far for the prosperous, peaceful, powerful future of our country and our nation. I believe that our nation sees the truth, Turkey is facing one of the most critical challenges of its history.”

- Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım addressed TOBB members and said, “If every member employs one person, 1.5 million new business areas, new businesses. As the President said, at least one. Hiring two means 3 million jobs. We will take two steps when you take one to expand the economy of the country; to create new business areas for our people. We won’t just burden you alone with this.”

Yıldırım stated that it is very important for the Summit to be held in the first days of 2017 and he stated that the chamber and commodity exchange representatives from every corner of the country have come to Ankara to keep the pulse of the economy.

Yıldırım said that the Turkey’s economy has had a plethora of successes in the last 15 years and that with the currency fluctuations in the global economy as well as some circles and foreign economic lobbies have been acting to implement their plans for Turkey.”