President Alan Requested a Special Meeting for the Earthquake Region at the Economic Council

Elazığ Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman of the Board of Directors İdris Alan; the meeting was held at the TOBB Twin Towers with the participation of Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and the relevant ministers, as well as the presidents of chambers and commodity exchanges.​ In his speech at the podium, Elazığ CCI President İdris Alan conveyed the demands and difficulties of the business community and, on behalf of the Presidents of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of the 11 provinces in the earthquake region, requested a meeting with Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and the relevant ministers.

The Turkish Economic Council of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), hosted by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, was held at the TOBB Twin Towers with the participation of Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and the relevant ministers, as well as the presidents of chambers and commodity exchanges.​

In addition to Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and the presidents of chambers and commodity exchanges, the TOBB Turkish Economic Council hosted by Hisarcıklıoğlu was attended by Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat, Minister of Labour and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar and Head of the Presidential Strategy and Budget Office İbrahim Şenel.

I speak on behalf of the business community of 11 provinces

       Before I begin, I extend my deepest respects and affection to you all on behalf of the Elazığ Business Community and myself, and I pray to Almighty God that the Economic Council will be beneficial for our country and our nation.

Today we have gathered here to address issues of critical importance for the future of our country. We are aware of the responsibility that falls upon us, particularly for the development of our provinces in the earthquake region and for them to have a stronger economy. With this responsibility, as President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Elazığ, a province that has itself experienced the 6 February earthquakes, I speak on behalf of the business community of the 11 provinces affected by the earthquake!

Today, the difficulty of access to finance faced by our businesses in the earthquake region stands out as the biggest problem. In this period of tightening credit opportunities, our earthquake-affected businesses have vitally important expectations, such as the search for alternative resources, expectations of tax reductions and supports that encourage employment.

In the current climate of economic contraction we are going through, it is inevitable that a series of structural measures be taken for our businesses to survive. However, as you will appreciate, it is clear that in the current situation, without the support of the public authority, our businesses, especially in the provinces affected by the earthquake, will not be able to manage these processes soundly.

We request the creation of a special fund share from public revenues for the earthquake regions.

In this regard, we request from our Vice President Mr Cevdet Yılmaz, who is fully familiar with the realities of our region, who knows and has seen our Dear City of Elazığ, esteemed for its friendship, as one of his own and holds it dear; from our Minister of Treasury and Finance Mr Mehmet Şimşek, who we wholeheartedly believe in the value and success of our region; and from our Esteemed Ministers, the creation of a special fund share from public revenues for the earthquake regions, with a view to expanding access-to-finance channels and reducing financing costs.

Offering the resources to be generated from this fund to our businesses in the provinces of the earthquake region through channels such as financial support and commercial loans will be a lifeline for our earthquake-affected businesses.

I would also like to underline that preconditions such as field of activity, NACE Code, damage and the like in the financing supports to be provided adversely affect commercial enterprises in the earthquake region. In short, in order to get back on our feet, we need low-interest loans with deferral options specifically for the earthquake region. We believe that the source of this demand can be obtained from the fund share to be created from public revenues specifically for the earthquake regions.

The problems of 11 provinces cannot be fitted into 3 minutes

I believe that we cannot express the problems I have just mentioned in 3 minutes. During my previous term as president, we held very productive region-specific meetings under the auspices of our TOBB President. We were able to express our issues and problems very well to our ministers and the then Prime Minister Mr Binali Yıldırım. As a chamber president from Elazığ, which has experienced major earthquakes, I respectfully request a special meeting covering the presidents of chambers and commodity exchanges of the 11 provinces.

In this respect, I look forward to your consideration of our demands for my city and for our other ten provinces that share the fate of my city, as well as your valuable contributions and support, and I extend my deepest respects to you all.