EKONOMİK
FORUM
128
Needing new policy for growth
and industrialization
365 Chambers and Commodity
exchanges united as one
T
urkey is once again trapped in its own worries, neglecting what is
going on across the rest of the world, missing out on major opportu-
nities and, finally, facing new risks each passing day. The country was, and
is still, among the top 10 middle-income economies 10 years ago. Only a
bunch of economies have managed to climb from the middle-income to
the high-income group over the last 35 years. South Korea, for example,
has made it on its own. A number of countries, like Greece and Spain, have
leaped to a higher league of economies thanks to the European Union. But
we do not yet have any idea about how we can do the same thing.
Which option should we take to keep growing: the European Union, or
do it on our own, like South Korea? We see that Turkey is still ambivalent
and does not have a sound roadmap or program. The country has been
going nowhere recently in terms of economic growth. It seems unlikely for
us to recover without technological renovation and technology transfer. In
this age, it is simply not possible to work a new economic miracle through
gains from land development. Turkey needs a new policy for growth and
industrialization, and to learn how to tell a dream from reality. Also, Turkey
should now take action rather than speaking.
SELECT NEWS
T
urkish Union of Chambers and Com-
modity Exchanges ( TOBB), which
gave one of the strongest reactions to
the coup attempt made on 15 July, con-
tinues to champion democracy under
the leadership of its chairman M. Rifat
Hisarcıklıoğlu.
365 Chambers and Exchange Commodi-
ties in 81 provinces and 160 districts united
as one during and after the coup attempt
that occurred on the night of 15 July. TOBB
Chairman M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu was the
first person in the business world to decla-
re his support for democracy and national
will, and thus mobilized other NGOs.
365 Chambers and Commodity Exchan-
ges came together with President Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali
Yıldırım under the leadership of TOBB Pre-
sident Hisarcıklıoğlu and announced their
trust in democracy. TOBB Management
visited many institutions to state their
support, and participated in the giant me-
eting held in İstanbul to which 5 million
people attended.
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu: