Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

In his speech, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that these meetings, the first of which were held in 1999, are of historical significance for trade development between the two countries.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the economic, commercial and investment dimensions of bilateral relations have always been tried to be kept on the agenda in line with the resolutions made at these meetings. “Such technical meetings are very important for bilateral commercial relations and these dimensions cover all aspects of bilateral commercial relations. We, TOBB and the US Chamber of Commerce, extend our gratitude for every positive step towards developing bilateral business relationships on behalf of a total of 4.5 million companies.”

- The economic pillar of relations needs to be strengthened

Hisarcıklıoğlu recalled that since the early 1990s bilateral relations first evolved from a developed partnership to a strategic partnership and then to a model partnership in which many decisions were made together particularly in regards to political issues in the region, “Many things have changed in Turkey since then. We have to go beyond military and political relations between the strongest economy in the region and the strongest economy in the world and the economic pillar of this relationship must be strengthened because there is a very different Turkey today.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that the Turkish economy grew by 5.2% in the first quarter and 5.1% in the second quarter. Despite the global turmoil and regional uncertainties, he pointed out that this proves both the dynamism and robustness in the last 15 years.

“Turkey is hosting more than 3 million Syrian refugees who have flocked to its borders because of instability in the region and with its own resources. The traitorous FETO organization bombed the National Assembly on July 15^th. Any other country facing such events internally and externally would face much different outcomes. Employment has increased by 1.6 million in the last year. In just the last month, 7,000 have found employment. In the last year 44 of 88 sectors have had an increased in the number of workplaces. We will continue to invest, create jobs and invest as the private sector. We want to see relations between the two countries as multi-dimensional. We attach great importance to the strengthening of trade and investment as it goes beyond the political and military dimension.”

TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the number of Turkish entrepreneurs who have the capacity to invest both in Turkey and in different parts of the world is quite high, “Turkey has no petroleum, but we have immensely dynamic entrepreneurs. Our wealth is that we learn fast, we are an entrepreneurial people, and that's why we have become the strongest economy in our region, and as the Turkish private sector we want to do more business with the United States.

- TOBB activities proliferating

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the government has provided great support to the development of economic relations between the two countries and noted that TOBB did not focus only on Ankara and Istanbul in Turkey and on Washington and New York alone in the United States.

Stating that the strength of Turkey-US relations with greater capacity to generate benefits is as important for both countries as it is for Europe and the Middle East, Hisarcıklıoğlu concluded:

“We are particularly focused on areas such as digital economy, financial services, value added manufacturing industry, healthcare sector, pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, communications technology and venture capital. We attach great importance to the signing of a free trade agreement between Turkey and the US. The US Chamber of Commerce has opened a regional office in Istanbul, and in October a big business delegation will visit Turkey as a part of our business alliance with the US Chamber of Commerce.”