Turkey’s main aim for G20 presidency is ‘robust growth’

The Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan attended at the first Turkish meeting of the B20, which is the business leg of the G20, and stated that the most important obstacle facing the global economy is credibility, and as soon as the deficit in credibility has decreased, trust will be restored in the markets and then, a globally-secure environment will trigger economic growth. "The success of our performance depends upon the support to be provided and cooperation to be established. Turkey's success in this period will be beneficial and will be for the interest of all other countries," added Babacan. He further noted that Australia's presidency in 2014 was very successful, and that Turkey will strive to continue this success, especially with solid politics in the economy throughout the G20 process, which will take place in the province of Antalya until November, 2015.

The Chairman of Turkish Union and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu announced the B20 that the Turkish task force practice will continue and introduced the teams of the task force. Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that the main purpose of the Turkish presidency of the B20 is "Robust Growth," and that the global economy has been undergoing an interesting period over the last six years, as paradigms related with the economy and finance are constantly changing. "Globally, we cannot achieve a steady growth. When one side improves, the other side comes to a halt. We are now discussing days without plentitude, days when money becomes tight, but we don't have any idea about how this will happen, nor what it will entail," added Hisarcıklıoğlu.

Hisarcıklıoğlu underlined that within the scope of B20, Turkey will strive to strengthen the concepts of continuity and comprehensiveness, and try to improve connections between the countries. He also introduced the head of groups - "The CEO of Sabancı Holding, Güler Sabancı has been elected as the Head of Trade Group among B20 task forces. Sabancı Holding will be in cooperation with Terry McGraw, the Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, the largest and most crucial business organization in the world, and the CEO of McGraw Hill Financial, which owns Standard and Poor," announced Hisarcıklıoğlu. Hisarcıklıoğlu further introduced Ferit Şahenk, the CEO of Doğuş Holding as the Head of Infrastructure and Investments group, Hüsnü Özyeğin, the CEO of FİBA Holding as the Head of Financing of Growth, Ali Koç, the CEO of Koç Holding as the Head of Employment Group and Murat Ülker, the CEO of Yıldız Holding as the Head of Fight Against Corruption.

He further noted that a B20 leadership mechanism called the "B20 Advocacy Leadership" will be established to support continuity, and that two to three businessmen, chambers or business organizations influential in political design processes from each country will be chosen, and that this team of 50 to 60 people will be very beneficial in lobbying Turkey's suggestions and opinions before G20 governments.

Stating that the B20 should welcome everyone who wants to support and improve the global business world, Hisarcıklıoğlu added that international companies and local SMEs, developed and developing countries, are all crucial for the proper functioning of B20 and for the global economy. "Therefore, we are establishing a new mechanism. First of all, we will establish a SME and Entrepreneurship Task Force, which will develop suggestions for supporting SMEs and entrepreneurs. Melih Yuryer, who is a successful entrepreneur working for SMEs to enter into global markets in Afyon will be the head of this group," noted Hisarcıklıoğlu.

Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that it is difficult to arrive at a mutual understanding and agreement since there are different types of countries within the G20, some of which are more integrated into the global economy, whereas others feel disadvantaged.

Noting that this can be overcome by bolstering relations between countries, Hisarcıklıoğlu said: "This will be considered as a horizontal area in all our task force units. In this respect, we will discuss how we can improve logistic connections that constitute a serious obstacle in improving trade. We will examine the problems in business connections in order to support extension of supply chains, and further strive to improve digital connections to ensure that all countries can benefit from the internet economy at the same level."

Hisarcıklıoğlu further underlined that the Turkish business world is not adequately present in platforms that steer the global economy, and that five years ago there were only a few Turkish companies actively involved in B20. "If we want to defend the interest of the Turkish business world, this has to change. We are now establishing a Business Leaders' Forum, consisting of 100 top-level executives from successful companies. We will continue our efforts with these 100 people in 2015. Come join us if you want to take a step towards becoming a global player," concluded Hisarcıklıoğlu.