Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The meeting was attended by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, President of TOBB; Celalettin Kesikbaş, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eskişehir Chamber of Industry; Seyit Ardıç, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ankara Chamber of Industry and Member of the Board of Directors of TOBB; Zeki Kıvanç, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Adana Chamber of Industry and Member of the Board of Directors of TOBB; Adnan Ünverdi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gaziantep Chamber of Industry; Erdal Bahçıvan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Istanbul Chamber of Industry and Chairman of the Council of Chambers of Industry of TOBB, Ayhan Zeytinoğlu, Chairman of Kocaeli Chamber of Industry; Selim Kasapoğlu, Chairman of Denizli Chamber of Industry; Mehmet Büyüksimitci, Chairman of Kayseri Chamber of Industry and TOBB Board Member; İbrahim Burkay, Chairman of Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry and TOBB Board Member; Mustafa Büyükeğen, Chairman of Konya Chamber of Industry.

The text of the joint statement made after the meeting is as follows:

“Press release regarding our meeting with the Presidents of the Chambers of Industry to discuss the problems of our industrialists, the demands of our members, and the developments in our region and the world.

1. We support the implemented macroeconomic program

Our economy is going through a very challenging period with increasing global and regional risks. We support the steps taken in monetary policies and financial stability, and hope to achieve permanent results in the fight against inflation as soon as possible. Because we have all seen how our competitiveness decreases when there is no price stability, how we cannot manage costs, how we cannot make our budget. We believe that we are going through a period when everyone needs to take matters into their own hands.

2. We need to protect our production capacity and employment

In this challenging period, it is of utmost importance to protect our production capacity and employment, which have been realized with the labor of decades and billions of liras of investment. For this purpose, first of all, the growth limit on commercial loans should be lifted, thus facilitating access to financing in the real sector. In particular, policies should be developed to increase SME loans, which have remained stagnant for the last 3-4 months, by at least the rate of inflation. In addition, in order to solve the problems in employment, it is necessary to reduce tax and premium burdens on wages to OECD averages, to direct our young people to employment through vocational training, to develop public-private sector cooperation in vocational training and to eliminate the legislative rigidities that make employment difficult.

On the other hand, it is important to take measures against the trade wars observed in the global economy and to protect our companies more effectively against unfair competition from abroad.

3. We should not wear out our companies in this process

While the private sector continues to invest, employ and export for Türkiye's growth, some media outlets and social media accounts make unfair accusations against companies. The companies in question operate in accordance with the provisions of the tax legislation without slipping off the books. Many of these companies are also audited by Certified Public Accountants and Independent Auditors. On the other hand, the news published in the press without knowing the tax and incentive legislation, without taking into account the special situations of each company and the regulations, discounts and exemptions to which they are subject, misleads the public and damages the reputation of industrial enterprises. We believe that these unfair comments against our companies that invest in our country, create thousands of jobs, pay billions of Turkish Liras in direct and indirect taxes, provide regular foreign currency income to our country through exports, and create added value through R&D investments are malicious.

4. Tax justice and the fight against informality must be a priority

It is not a fair method to claim and comment that a company pays less tax than it should by only looking at the figures on its tax plates. We support taking all necessary steps to inform the public correctly and to ensure tax justice. We believe that the priority in tax policies should be the fight against informality and unfair competition caused by informality. In this context, we expect the tax system to become more transparent and fair.”