Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Hisarcıklıoğlu reported that SMEs have always been on the losing end of all reforms implemented since the 2008 crisis, declaring that Turkey is working to turn this around during its term as chair of the B20.

The 9^th Congress of the World Chambers Federation (WCF) which represents 12,000 chambers of commerce and industry was held in Torino, Italy. Speaking at the Congress attended by thousands of chambers and entrepreneurs from 110 countries, B20 Turkey Chair and TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu spoke to the attendees about Turkey’s G20 and B20 priorities as well as Turkey’s economy.

- Call to be more active in regards to SMEs

Stating that chambers of commerce, essentially the representatives of SMEs all over the world, need to be more involved in global policy creation, M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Fortune stands at our door this year, Turkey stands firm behind SMEs as G20 Term Chair.”

Urging all chamber presidents to act, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “As long as chambers exist, SMEs won’t be left to fend for themselves. We’ve been unable to generate growth since the 2008 global crisis. We’ve been unable to balance growth. Whenever a region of the world pulls itself together, other parts start to fail. In order to balance growth and make it sustainable, we must fire up the SMEs.”

- 2015 is the year of the SMEs

Stating that the G20 has accomplished great endeavors in order to pull the global economy from the brink since the 2008, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Unfortunately, SMEs have been forgotten. SMEs have always been on the losing end of all reforms implemented since the 2008 crisis. We have a chance to turn this around during Turkey’s term as chair of the G20. To this end, we’ve established the World SME Forum as TOBB in cooperation with the ICC and WCF. It is within our power to make this the year of the SMEs.”