GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPEECH

BURSA / 16 January 2023

Honourable Governor,

Honourable Member of Parliament,

Honourable Mayor,

Honourable Rector,

Esteemed Presidents and Representatives of the Business and Political World, of NGOs and of our Chambers,

Honourable Bursa Branch President,

Distinguished Members of the Board of Directors and Former Branch Presidents,

Esteemed Presidents of our Branches Coming from Neighbouring Provinces,

Distinguished MÜSİAD Members,

My Brothers and Sisters of Young MÜSİAD,

Esteemed Members of the Press,

Ladies and Gentlemen

I greet you all with respect and affection.

We are very happy to be together with you today in Bursa.

I remember with mercy our ancestors and elders who lie buried in Bursa, our ancient capital.

I pray to Almighty God that our General Assembly may be a means of goodness.

Our esteemed members, distinguished guests,

Having reached a total of 165 branches and contact points on a global scale, MÜSİAD, with its more than 13 thousand members and nearly 60 thousand companies, both provides added value to the Turkish economy and leads the development of diverse cooperation at home and abroad.

MÜSİAD is not only a global platform of cooperation and capital, but also a development movement that draws its strength from our rich values of civilization and from the wisdom of Anatolia. The members of this movement always keep their hopes alive, work sincerely and honestly, and never abandon their ideals.

MÜSİAD members order their lives, shaped by the consciousness and culture of the Akhi tradition.

They always run with love in order to earn the pleasure of the Truth. As the Great Master Neşet Ertaş said, “He who runs with love never tires.” We too continue to run with love.

Last weekend Konya and Karaman; the week before, Gebze and Sakarya; and today we are here... And this week, with Zonguldak Ereğli, İzmir, Mersin and Adana, we continue to travel every inch of our country and to explain our mission.

Esteemed guests, dear friends,

With its contributions to the development of the national and regional economy, to the provision of foreign currency inflow through exports and to the strengthening of the industrial infrastructure, Bursa is a global centre of attraction thanks to its advanced manufacturing industry and trade.

Ranking third among Türkiye’s largest exporting provinces in 2022 after İstanbul and Kocaeli, Bursa displays great dynamism in economic terms.

The exports of Bursa, which has a serious say in the industrial sector, recorded an increase of %6.1 compared with the previous year and put forth a strong performance with a total of USD 16.2 billion.

I wholeheartedly congratulate our businesspeople friends from Bursa and wish them continued success.

Esteemed guests,

After an intense and productive year, we are working to accomplish important undertakings in 2023 as well. The 2nd Turkish Arab Business Summit, which we held in Gaziantep in 2022 with the participation of more than 1,300 Turkish and Arab businessmen, took its place in our history as the largest business forum of the Middle East. This year too, in our city of Konya where trade and history meet, we shall hold the 3rd Turkish Arab Business Summit. At the “International Business Forum (IBF) 3rd Turkish Arab Business Summit”, which we shall hold on 5-7 May 2023, we aim to bring together more than 2,000 businessmen from 40 countries in our Konya.

We already invite all our businessmen to this important summit of ours, and we hope that it will bring blessings to our country and our region.

If we are to summarize our activities for the first four months of this year: 11-19 February Saudi Arabia business trip, 23 February International Young Businessmen Congress (UGİK), 4 March Young MÜSİAD General Assembly, 5-9 March United States trip, 10-12 March Antalya Diplomacy Forum, 21 March Industry Summit… Together with this rich calendar of activities, God willing we shall welcome the noble month of Ramadan on 23 March. During the month of Ramadan we shall hold branch iftar and sahur programs. And on 30 April we shall hold our MÜSİAD 27th Ordinary General Assembly.

Esteemed guests, my dear brothers and sisters,

Despite the geopolitical risks that ran high in 2022 following the global pandemic and despite the slowing global economy, the Turkish economy, thanks to its dynamic and flexible structure, managed to grow above the world and G20 averages. In such a difficult period, when recession and stagflation scenarios were being discussed in developed countries, the continued growth of our economy is a clear indication of how greatly Türkiye has strengthened its immunity against external shocks.

Before us lie difficult and sharp crossroads that we must pass through. We believe that, passing through these crossroads all together, we shall begin a new era of surging forward in the 100th Year of our Republic and at the very beginning of the Century of Türkiye.

Esteemed guests, my dear brothers and sisters,

General assemblies are periods of Renewal and rejuvenation. As MÜSİAD, running day and night, constantly renewing ourselves at every level, changing the guard from time to time and growing in a healthy manner, we preserve our dynamism and our enthusiasm. Together with MÜSİAD Women and Young MÜSİAD we strengthen our family and, by continually widening our sphere of influence, we deepen it. With our sector boards and our rich organizational structure we penetrate right down to the capillary vessels of our economy.

The productive conduct of our Branch General Assemblies is very important in order to make this strong structure of ours sustainable. In this respect I hope that the general assembly of our Bursa branch will pass successfully and that its results will be auspicious. I congratulate our esteemed board members who served in the previous term. In particular I thank my brother, our esteemed President Nihat Alpay. May God be pleased with him. I wholeheartedly wish success to our fellow presidents who will be newly elected and take office. These duties are sacred trusts for us. We can render this trust its due only by trembling over it with sensitivity and by handing it over to our new colleagues when the time comes. At this point I should like to underline one important matter: handing over duties is not a kind of retirement; on the contrary, it requires embracing our cause and our institution even more. Our presidency and our other duties may come to an end, but our responsibilities continue as long as we live. We have a well-worn saying: there is no retiree in MÜSİAD, only the departed.

My dear brothers and sisters, our esteemed members,

As the MÜSİAD family we have very great responsibilities. In this delicate period, abandoning personal ambitions and calculations entirely, we shall work and produce for our nation and our country selflessly, sincerely and with self-sacrifice. With this consciousness, God willing, we shall together write very great success stories and hand over a more prosperous country to the new generations.

As I conclude my words with these feelings and thoughts, I once again wish that our general assembly may be a means of goodness, and I wish success to our brothers and sisters who will take office in the new term.

Stay well. May God protect you.

President of MÜSİAD

Mahmut Asmalı