Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Hisarcıklıoğlu, in his speech here, stated that as TOBB President, it is his 15^th time visiting Rize.

Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that Rize is the city where blue and green meet; the city of tea, anchovies and hawks. “This is the home of earnest people. This is the city which gave us Our President, the leader of Turkey's development, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Rize deserves every service and every compliment. I offer my heartfelt thanks to my brother Şaban, the management of our Chamber, and the Council for bringing us together here in beautiful Rize.”

Noting that he witnessed a beautiful event in Rize, the TOBB President continued: “There is grace and prosperity in unity; anguish and dissent. If the city comes together, blessings come. Our Governor, Mayor, Deputies, Chamber and Exchange Presidents all work together. When it comes to Rize, all the residents of Rize are one and united. If there is unity in one place, your will never be beaten. That's the formula of being a brand city. When you work together, you completed the OIZ. You even started Stage 2. I hope the future of Rize will be as bright as its past.”

Reminding that the Ovit Tunnel connecting the Black Sea to the south is finished, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Rize-Artvin Airport, which is very important for tourism, is about to be completed. The Logistics Center has also reached the tender stage. Unfortunately, it is stymied by the public budget is stuck but are following up on it.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that the rate of bounced checks in Rize last year were only 10% while the country average was 76%. A rate of 55% protested bills throughout Turkey was -11% in Rize, while the non-performing loan rate was 4% in Turkey, it was 2.5% in Rize, showing the dependability of the people of Rize.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu also touched on a regrettable issue he encountered while visiting Rize, “The plateaus of Rize, each one a piece of heaven, are being endangered by haphazard urbanization. If we don't protect these places, we'll have killed the golden egg laying hen. You need to protect this treasure.”

- We care deeply for Rize

Stating that TOBB always attached great importance to Rize, the TOBB President said that they’ve built a primary school, a science high school and a religious high school in Rize, and carried out the modernization of the Sarp Land Customs Gate which is of the utmost importance for Rize and Turkey.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that another opportunity for Rize is the diligent and hardworking Rize Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Commodity Exchange, both of which are accredited chamber-exchanges and provide five-star service to its members.

Hisarcıklıoğlu continued: “Thanks to our chamber, Rize won the OIZ. Our Commodity Exchange has increased the brand value of tea, Rize Tea Research and Application Center ÇAYMER has been realized. I am proud of having such diligent and visionary Chamber and Exchange Presidents.”

- We produce solutions to problems together

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they are working together with the chamber-commodity exchange presidents in Rize and Ankara and that they relay their problems and suggestions to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the government and they are looking for solutions.

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the biggest complaint of businessmen was access to finance. “Our biggest problem was the banking sector. These banks are so unscrupulous that they run after us on good days and when the rain starts, they take away the umbrella and disappear. We made the sacrifice, mobilized all our resources. We launched a 12 billion TRY of credit facilities for 15% of SMEs in Turkey, 96,000 of them. We started the low interest rate SME support package. We requested additional support from our Government. They provided SMEs with 4 different loan packages. Another challenge was high employment costs. Everybody who employs a person in Rize deserves an award.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu, is a hero of Turkey's businessmen, stressing that reduced the government's support of the trouble, said: “We enabled introduction of minimum wage support for employers. It will be utilized throughout 2019 as a monthly amount of 150 TRY. We began Employment mobilization. We didn’t pay a single lira in taxes for newly employed workers throughout January and April. We paid no salary, no SSK, no premiums and taxes. If we employ a new person after the fourth month, we will pay only 2,200 TRY. We are exempt from the 1,400 TRY paid to the government on top of that. If you have difficulty in paying the salary of the worker, the wages are drawn from the unemployment benefit short-term working allowance fund. If things don’t work out, you can use it for an additional 3 months. Discounts to enliven the domestic market were introduced to furniture, white goods, automobiles and housing taxes. Discounts excepting housing have come to an end as of June but we have requested extension from the government.”

Emphasizing that labor courts and lawsuits have always resulted against the employer, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We have been in court with workers. Has there ever been a case decided against a worker? The employer loses 99.2% of the time. Mediation has become compulsory in commercial disputes as of 2019. Lawsuits are concluded faster and at a much less cost, resulting in 63% of cases resolving without needing to go to court. In today's court system it is 2 years to finish. Appealing to a higher court is an additional 2 years. You can only get receivables after 4 years.”

- “Let's not marginalize each other.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu, urging remembrance of one the most important days of our history, July 15^th, said, “Who stood by this country on July 15^th? No one. I personally witnessed this. Who prevented July 15^th? The 80 million. We know to come together when there is a problem. Once it’s over everybody is a republic unto themselves.  Let’s not marginalize each other. Do not marginalize each other because of political opinion, sect, ethnicity, religion, different ideas. Let's embrace each other. There is other family than the 80 million.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “You can’t expect everyone to think like you. No such thing. Allah didn’t do it, how could you? We will be different. Our tradesmen, our workers, everyone will accept this. We will accept differences as beauty. How we will do this? Common mind. If we do, there is success. Grace and prosperity in unity; anguish in dissent. If we do this, we win. There’s no need to blame outsiders; once we come together, nothing can defeat us.”

After the speeches, plaques and awards were presented to the tax record holders.