Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech at the opening of the D-8 CCI Business Forum held after the D-8 CCI General Assembly, stated that Antalya is the capital of tourism in Turkey and that 14 million tourists are expected to visit it this year. Hisarcıklıoğlu reminded that the foundation was created 21 years ago with Necmettin Erbakan's vision. Stating that D-8 adopted peace rather than conflict; dialogue rather than confrontation; justice, democracy and equality as principles, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We have a unique geography as D-8 member countries. We have rich natural resources, a young and dynamic population. The trade volume between our countries, which was 14bn USD when D-8 was established in ‘97 has today reached around 100bn USD. This is good but not enough. Our per capita income, which was around 1,800 USD, has now reached 4,500 USD. In total, we have an economy of 3.7 trillion USD.”

- Trade strengthens peace

Speaking about the fact that they have not been able to use their full potential despite the fact that they have business relations in many sectors, D-8 Chamber of Commerce and Industry Term Chairman and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that trade will support and strengthen peace. Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that those who trader would not consider war and the best example of this is the EU project.

Pointing out that half of the world's least developing 48 countries are Islamic countries, Hisarcıklıoğlu said that they had to change this. D-8 Chamber of Commerce and Industry Term Chairman and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “As D-8 countries, we can increase our trade of 100 billion USD to 5 times over. Remember that people's well-being depends on economies being strong. We have responsibilities as representatives of the private sector. It's not enough to just point out the problems that we have. We must share our solution proposals with our governments. There is a study by TEPAV to develop economic activities among D-8 countries. Mr. Güven will provide in depth information about this subject.”

- D-8 Secretary General Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari

D-8 General Secretary Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari emphasized the importance of transforming the concrete results of these meetings into projects and reminded that the private sector is the engine of economic growth. “D-8 will be an economic power in the near future.”

D-8 Secretary General Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari, stating that they want to increase trade and increase cooperation, pointed out that financial mechanisms are very important and provided information about various projects.