TOBB Real Sector & Financial Sector Dialogue Strengthening Meeting Held
Halil Balık, Chairman of the Board of the Bartın Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Hüseyin Çalıkoğlu, Chairman of the Assembly, attended the Real Sector & Financial Sector Dialogue Strengthening Meeting held at the TOBB Twin Towers, hosted by M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB).
At the meeting, Alpaslan Çakar, General Manager of Ziraat Bank, Osman Arslan, General Manager of VakıfBank, Recep Süleyman Özdil, General Manager of Halkbank, and the Presidents of the Chambers and Exchanges affiliated with TOBB came together to evaluate the problems in the real sector's access to finance, credit processes, the financing needs of SMEs and proposed solutions.
In his speech, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu drew attention to the strategic importance of protecting production and industry, stating that high financing costs put serious pressure particularly on SMEs. Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasised that the growth limits on commercial loans should be relaxed, the gap between loan interest rates and the policy rate should be narrowed, rediscount credit facilities for exporters should be increased, and positive discrimination should be applied to SMEs. He also stressed the importance of giving the Nefes Loan scheme a more comprehensive and sustainable structure.
At the meeting, the general managers of the public banks also listened to the demands of the business community and made assessments regarding financing models that would support the continuity of production and employment. It was stated that the details of the 1 trillion lira manufacturing industry investment package announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would be shared with the public shortly and made available to the business community under suitable conditions.
Following the meeting, Halil Balık, Chairman of the Board of the Bartın Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Bartın TSO), drew attention to the great importance of access to finance, particularly for SMEs, and made the following remarks:
"Access to finance is one of the most important agenda items for our business community. We find this meeting, held with the general managers of public banks under the leadership of our TOBB President, Mr. M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, highly productive. For the sustainability of production, investment and employment, it is of great importance that our businesses can access affordable finance more easily. We believe that these consultations, in which the expectations and demands of the Bartın business community were also voiced, will contribute to the development of new financing opportunities for the real sector. As the Bartın Chamber of Commerce and Industry, we will continue to follow our members' problems on every platform and to contribute to the processes of finding solutions."
