Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

“I am happy to meet with my fellow sailors after a long time. I'll try to relay to you some of the recent issues. I want to hear from you. As TOBB, we did not leave our members alone during this period. We do our best to solve the problems of the sector. We follow every problem very closely. We are seeking for solutions on behalf our government. We were notified of 200 problems in a 6-month period. I want you to know that we do our part in this.”

“Shipping is our must,” he said. “‎No matter how much you produce, it doesn't matter if you can't get it to the customer. You are the most important step in the world economy. We foresaw that we would experience the difficulties of this process during this period when supply chains are deteriorating. Everyone was aware of how important transportation was in this process. Here's our main advantage. We are bordering the European market. That's reflected in the numbers. We had huge problems with container and freight prices. We will overcome this with the increasing volume of trade in the coming period. As our exports and imports increase, we understand your value better. We have set a historical record for supplying, producing and bringing goods to market. That's our mission.”

TOBB Vice President and Chairman of IMEAK Chamber of Commerce Tamer Kıran said that global sea trade, which contracted by 3.4% on a ton basis in 2020, reached 11 billion 964 million tons in 2021 with 3.7% growth per ton, above the value of 2019.

Stating that they are trying to find solutions to the problems of the members, Kıran said, “We have undertaken many efforts to support our sectors. During the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, we also worked hard, communicated the problems and solution proposals from our professional committees and members to the relevant institutions and organizations, and followed them up. For myself, when I kept a tally of last year; I participated in a total of 456 activities, including 70 related to TOBB, in one year including Maritime Chamber of Commerce and TOBB meetings, PRÜ Board of Trustees, TÜDEV Board of Directors meetings and other related meetings, visits, receptions, workshops, panels and conferences.‎