Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The Industry Chamber 2012 Award Ceremony took place at the Kayseri Hilton Hotel, hosted by TOBB Board Member and Kayseri Chamber of Industry President Mustafa Boydak and attended by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Customs and Commerce Minister Hayati Yazıcı, Youth and Sports Minister Suat Kılıç, AK Party Group Chairman Mustafa Elitaş, Kayseri Governor Şerif Yılmaz, Kayseri Municipality Director Mehmet Özhaseki, Kayseri Chamber of Commerce President M. Asaf Mehmetbeyoğlu as well as many industrialists and businessmen.

In his speech at the award ceremony, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the Kayseri Chamber of Commerce is one of Turkey’s most institutional chambers with 46 active years to boast of. The Kayseri Chamber of Industry, Kayseri Chamber of Commerce, Kayseri Trade Exchange and the Develi Chamber of Commerce all hold 5 stars, Hisarcıklıoğlu went on, “Whatever 5 stars means for a hotel in terms of services, and so do these chambers also provide service on equal quality level.”

Thanking Minister Hayati Yazıcı for his efforts and contributions in regards to the Turkish Trade Law, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “If the new Turkish Trade Law were to go into effe3ct unchanged, there would have been a burden of 6 billion TL. I would like to congratulate the architects of this development, the Minister and Mustafa Elitaş.”

Stating that without the changes everyone would be visiting prison at some point, Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that 18 instances of prison sentences have been headed off. Stating that the preparations for these changes were made by chambers, TOBB President drew attention to the importance of the work of chambers and exchanges.

Having hosted the New York Times Journalist Tom Friedman at TOBB recently, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “When asked how he perceived Turkey he said, ‘If I were an alien I would think that there are old, goalless countries in the West. To the East and South are countries struggling to become nations. An island among them all is Turkey. It defines its goals and proceeds towards them. It does not lose dynamism.’ Friedman told me that he saw a great entrepreneurial spirit in us. That is the secret to this. I invited him to Kayseri an when he asked me what there was in Kayseri I told him that it was barren land. There was nothing. Yet there are a thousand factories which provide employment to 190,000 people. That is the capital of trade and industry.”

- Hisarcıklıoğlu requests support for Erciyes from Minister Kılıç

Praising the work done and the support provided for the Erzurum Winter Olympics, Hisarcıklıoğlu requested support for Erciyes’ winter tourism from the Minister Suat Kılıç. Emphasizing that Kayseri is a brand city, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Kayseri is a candidate to be the next Davos. All constituents of winter tourism exist here.” In his speech, Minister Kılıç promised full support for Hisarcıklıoğlu’s request.
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