Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) was gathered - hosted by TOBB President M Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu and attended by Turkey Sectoral Economy Council Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan, representatives of relevant ministries and sector council presidents.

Former BEYSAD President of the Board of Directors and Vice President of the Turkish Durable Goods Assembly, Mr. Ş. Burak Özaydemir, also attended the meeting as a speaker and conveyed the problems of the sector to the relevant parties.

Speaking at the opening of the council, TOBB President M Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that real sector companies have a great difficulty in accessing credit and said, "If we want the abundance of growth to be reflected in all segments of society, we must support our SMEs and ensure that they have access to appropriate financing opportunities."

Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the Council is a very important platform that brings together the public and private sectors and where problems and suggestions can be conveyed directly to the executive authority.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that it was very valuable, very important and pleasing that many of the issues they had raised in previous assemblies had been resolved in the past, and said, "We believe that you will bring solutions to the issues we will now bring to the agenda, as in the past. The most important thing for us is that we have our state on our side, just like today." "Of course, we are experiencing some problems in the economy. But we do not despair and do not give up the struggle," he added.

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that having experienced people in economic management at work gives them morale and that they believe that together they will bring the economy to a stronger foundation.

Stating that the growth data announced today increases hopes for the future, Hisarcıkıoğlu said, "Despite the stagnation in global economies and the earthquake disaster of the century, the Turkish economy continued to grow in the last quarter of the year thanks to its strong domestic consumption and completed 2023 with a growth of 4.5 percent."

"We must redesign the tax system"

Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the presidents of the sector councils gathered the most requested issues and prepared solution suggestions and listed the suggestions as follows: “Our real sector companies are experiencing great difficulty in accessing credit. If we want the abundance of growth to be reflected in everyone, we must support our SMEs and ensure that they have access to appropriate financing opportunities. Secondly, we must redesign the tax system, which becomes more complex every year and makes investment and production difficult. Third, in the OECD index, we have the most rigid labor market, including the Scandinavian countries. Everyone suffers from this too. Our employers will be able to provide more employment. Our legislation almost discourages this. It also prevents our citizens from accessing more job opportunities and earning more. Working life should be viewed with an approach that rewards employment, not penalizes it. Fourth, investment permit processes are very complex. Moreover, our investors do not know or cannot predict what will happen to them during the investment process, what legislative changes, what different bureaucratic approaches they will encounter. This prevents investments from increasing at the pace we want. For this reason, investment permits and government incentives should be monitored and coordinated from a single point. Fifthly, we must solve the investment location problem in order to pave the way for investments."

"A new industrial basin should be planned in the Central Anatolia-Eastern Mediterranean zone"

Drawing attention to the share of industrial investments in the country's surface area, Hisarcıklıoğlu continued his words as follows: "In Germany it is 4 percent, in Italy it is 2.8 percent, even the OECD average is 2.4 percent. In our case, it is only 3 per thousand. Our industry, in order to survive in global competition, operates in an area that is one-tenth the size of its competitors in the world. A master plan should be prepared to increase industrial lands and financing solutions for land purchase and building construction should be developed. Thus, our industrialists should utilize their limited capital by investing in more productive areas. Again, in this context, an industrial basin should be planned in the Central Anatolia-Eastern Mediterranean zone."

"We trust the executive and reformist way of doing business of our ministers"

Recalling that there was a huge earthquake last year, which was considered the "disaster of the century", Hisarcıklıoğlu said, "With the new industrial basin, we can reduce the risk in Marmara and at the same time open up space in Marmara for high-tech and larger value-added investments."

Underlining that, as the business world, they want predictability above all else and expect a road map for the future, Hisarcıklıoğlu concluded his words as follows: "The Medium Term Program prepared under the leadership of Vice President Mr. Cevdet Yılmaz is also very important in order to make business plans and move forward with confidence. Thanks to him, as someone who always attaches importance to consultation and common sense, he always met with us and received our opinions and suggestions, including on this issue.

We are ready to run, work and produce. With God's permission, we will overcome all the troubles and continue on our way. We will continue to produce and work to make our country stronger, richer and more prosperous."

In his speech at the opening of the Council, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz stated that they prepared a 57-item action plan at the Investment Environment Improvement Coordination Board (YOIKK), which includes representatives of relevant ministries and private sector, and that they plan to declare it tomorrow.

Stating that they see all the meetings under the umbrella of TOBB, where they take the pulse of the business world, as an opportunity to strengthen the economic structure together with the stakeholders, Yılmaz stated that they see TOBB as the kitchen of reforms regarding economy and trade, in line with the perspective adopted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for 21 years.

Yılmaz stated that they prepared and implemented road maps, especially the Medium Term Program (MTP) covering the period 2024-2026 and the 12th Development Plan covering the period 2024-2028, in consensus with representatives of the business world.

Explaining that they shaped their structural reform agenda in line with the feedback and expectations from the business world representatives, Yılmaz stated that the issues expressed by the sector representatives who undertake production, employment, investment and export in all corners of Turkey are extremely valuable and important to them.

Stating that they are always with the sector representatives, Yılmaz said, "We are determined to increase our country's achievements in the field of economy and finance and to look to the future with confidence with our vision of the Turkey Century. With the experience of a century-old Republic, we will carry our country to much higher levels, both public and private, together."

"We are implementing policies that will enable the sectors to see the future more clearly"

Stating that the weak course of global growth continues due to the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, Yılmaz said that geopolitical risks increase the volatility of prices and risks.

Emphasizing that in the World Bank Global Economic Expectations Report published last month, the global growth expectation was announced as 2.4 percent, unchanged for 2024, and 2.7 percent, with a 0.3 point decrease for 2025, Yılmaz said, "In such a global climate, our economy has been decreasing since last year." "We are implementing policies that reduce uncertainty and enable all sectors to see the future more clearly. We are working to fight inflation, ensure fiscal discipline, balance growth, reduce the current account deficit and strengthen our reserves," he added.

Stating that many data in the economy are expressed in proportion to national income, Yılmaz said, "Now that our national income has been revealed, we have revised some of our data accordingly. According to our first calculations, if we talk about the latest figure, we have a national income exceeding 1.1 trillion dollars. For the first time in our history we have surpassed the 1 trillion dollar level and the 1.1 trillion dollar level. Thus, we have consolidated our position as the 17th largest economy in the world in nominal terms. In addition, our 11th position in purchasing power continues of course. When we look at it proportionally, the current account deficit is a critical one for us. In the middle of last year, our current account deficit reached up to 60 billion dollars. At the end of the year, it decreased to 45 billion dollars. We see that the ratio of the current account deficit to national income decreased by 4 percent. This was exactly the prediction we made in the Medium Term Program. We see that this prediction holds true." he added.

The council continued closed to the press after the opening speeches.