Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB is putting in motion a project to contribute to local development as well as developing the relationship between universities and the business community by assigning 81 academic consultants 81 provinces. It aims to enable chambers and exchanges in 81 provinces and 160 counties to locally produce data and information; to increase their capacities for developing regional strategy. Emphasizing that we must promote cities and geographical markers, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “New brands are being created by cities, not countries. Numbers put this clearly in perspective. In 1950, the number of cities with populations over 1 million was 77. Today, that number stands at 436. The number of people living in those cities was 179 million; now they house 1.4 billion people. You can see how fast population has increased in the last 60 years. By 2025, the number of cities with populations over 1 million will have reached 616 with total population nearing 2.1 billion. This is a great bounty. Cities left behind will lose. Those who step forth will be the star cities of tomorrow.”

- Experiences abroad

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that TOBB provides material and moral support to local development and that they aim to bring a new vision to local development with the 81 academicians for 81 provinces, “At the moment, 70 academic consultants have already been selected. 53 of them have begun their work. 45% of the academicians selected have either studied or taught abroad.  In 2015, our chambers and exchanges will provide even more support with academic consultants to local development. Academic consultants will contribute to the institutional capacity and building local data generation capacity of our chambers and exchanges. At this junction, I would like to thank the Minister of Development Cevdet Yılmaz. Development Agencies are undertaking important projects for local development. Our investments will continue in provinces which provide a fulcrum for local development. We are constructing Anatolian, Science, Religious or Vocational High Schools according to the needs of cities.”

- What will academicians do?

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that there are various criteria for the academicians they’ve selected and said, “We aimed to work with the best masters working in the universities of said provinces. The first criterion was that they would be working at the university in the province. We required that they should know English to an advanced degree. We prioritized those who worked or received education abroad. We made sure that the individuals were jointly nominated by the chambers and exchanges in their provinces. Our expectation of the academicians is to produce projects targeted at local development. We expect them to conduct research into the economic and social state of the city, to prepare project proposals to actualize the city’s potential through EU grant and support programs by our chambers and exchanges and to follow-up on these projects. We also want them to brief foreign or extra-provincial delegations on the city’s economy in order to draw in more investments.”

- Suggestion for competition of cities

Emphasizing that there are several points which must be noted in order for our cities to succeed in global competition, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The first criterion is people. Let’s not forget that it is the people living in a city which will make it into a brand. The second is quality of life. Do you want to retain highly skilled and qualified people in your province and even draw in more from elsewhere? The answer is easy enough. You must provide an environment of high quality of life. You must build habitable cities. You must provide healthcare as well as social activity. Thirdly, a private sector friendly business environment is crucial. A network of versatile and highly qualified professionals, connections with other cities and countries is very important. One last thing is necessary to enable the other criteria: A strong leadership. If there is a strong will to enact these in a province, if there is common sense, success will come easily and often. That is how we can move ahead in global competition. That is how Turkey will move towards its goals.”