MÜSİAD Australia Sydney Branch Opening

19 October 2023

Esteemed friends, dear MÜSİAD Family,

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

I respectfully greet you all...

Welcome to the opening of our MÜSİAD's Australia, Sydney Branch; you have honoured us with your presence...

Our Distinguished Guests,

Since its foundation in 1990 to this day, MÜSİAD has entered into a very strong and effective organizational structure through the branches and representative offices it has opened both in our country and abroad. It has always been a pioneer and a guide in the matter of organization.

For one of the most important reasons for MÜSİAD's existence is to build a strong and lasting organizational structure. Whether at home or abroad, MÜSİAD has always believed in the power of organization in order to raise its contact with its members to the highest point.

MÜSİAD is a civil society organization with offices in 84 cities in Türkiye and in 85 different cities of the world, possessing an organization of national and international reach. Yesterday we held our branch opening in Indonesia. Today we are taking another very fine step for the sake of our organization and holding the opening of two new branches in Australia. With our Melbourne and Sydney branches we are increasing our points of connection and expanding our family.

Praise be to God, for two days we have been experiencing the happiness of being together with our brothers and sisters in Indonesia and Australia, thousands of kilometres away from our country, and of ending our longing for one another.

Yet despite all this, one part of us is hurt and wounded... One side of us is enraged at the crime against humanity taking place in Gaza... Our hearts weep blood...

The oppression of Israel has been continuing in Gaza for more than ten days. The massacres taking place before the eyes of the whole world virtually reached their peak with the bombing of a hospital last week and of a marketplace yesterday. The words to be said have now run out.

Our hearts are burning, our spirits are heavy...

Esteemed friends,

I say “heavy”, because as you know, the Israeli massacre has been continuing in Palestine for more than fifteen days. We are at the point where words end. Today, more than yesterday, we are in need of and obliged to be one and together and to act jointly.

Israel, which commits yet another crime against humanity with every action it takes, must be stopped as soon as possible. The international community must act urgently and take the necessary measures against every kind of war crime.

The state of Israel is carrying out a genocide before the eyes of the whole world. The infrastructure system has been destroyed... People's electricity and water have been cut off... People have been left without food and without water... The civilian settlements, hospitals, places of worship and educational institutions in Gaza have been razed to the ground.

As MÜSİAD, we condemn the war in Gaza and this massacre committed against humanity. We make a call for justice to all actors in the region so that the war may be ended, peace in the region may be secured, and the crimes against humanity being committed may be prevented as soon as possible. We say that the oppression in Gaza must end as soon as possible... We will continue our struggle until an independent state of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital is established. Let no one have any doubt about this either.

Esteemed MÜSİAD Family,

Our Exalted Lord says in the 102nd verse of Surah Hud: “Such is the seizure of your Lord when He seizes the communities that turn to wrongdoing! Indeed, His punishment is most painful and most severe!”

As MÜSİAD, we have always stood by the oppressed, whatever their nation, religion or race. And we will continue to do so. Whoever the oppression comes from, we are obliged to stand by the oppressed as one and together.

And only as long as we are one and together and strong can we stand upright against injustice beside the oppressed... Only thus can we make our struggle stronger.

What will make us strong is our being one and together. Not you, I, he; if we are “We”, we can bring out our own strength. Only if we are “we” can no power stand before us and can we become those who truly have a say.

If we are together and strong, we can intervene in the wars and the human tragedies that are taking place. If we want to support our brothers and sisters in Palestine, we must be strong. In short, we must believe in “the power of We” and in its might...

Esteemed members of MÜSİAD,

For the last two days we have been experiencing the pride of putting two of our branches, located in different geographies of the world, into operation at once. Australia, where we are holding a branch opening today, together with Southeast Asia, comes at the top of the regions with which we want our connection to the continent to be strong. Australia possesses a strong economic structure both as a continent and within its own immediate geography.

Economic and commercial relations between Türkiye and Australia began to develop mainly after the 1970s. In trade between the two countries, our country is generally in the position of a net importer.

The principal products we import that stand out in our bilateral trade with Australia are gold, coal, pharmaceutical products, fruit and vegetables, machinery and inorganic chemicals. The principal product items we export are machinery, mechanical appliances, land vehicles, fruit and vegetables, iron and steel, and plastics and their products.

Although Australia is thousands of kilometres away from us, it must also be said that there are a great many advantageous circumstances that will further strengthen the trade and the cooperation between us... The first of these is that the commercial and diplomatic relations between us have been continuing without problems for very many years.

It is observed that Australia's current exports consist mainly of natural resources, minerals and agricultural products, while approximately two thirds of its imports consist of manufacturing industry products. When this foreign trade composition is compared with Türkiye's economic structure / foreign trade structure, the economies of both countries prove to be of a complementary nature and constitute a favourable environment for the further development of economic and commercial relations.

Another advantageous circumstance is the presence of a very large Turkish population on the continent. Turks resident in Australia, the great majority of whom hold dual citizenship, have investments in fields such as food, construction, textiles, communication technology, wholesale and retail trade, painting, communication services, restaurant management, car repair and taxi driving. It is estimated that there are approximately 4,000 small and medium-sized businesses belonging to Turks.

I congratulate our business people brothers and sisters who contribute to the country's economy. Of course we will not forget the land in which we were born, our paradise homeland. Yet it is also most valuable that we serve the place where we have truly been nourished, this beautiful country and its people, and that we carry the abundance and the values of Anatolia here.

As MÜSİAD, together with our Australia Branch, we are engaged in an effort that accelerates commercial relations and is directed at establishing new collaborations, both for our members and for the citizens of the two countries. In this way, alongside our commercial relations, our cultural relations will also become stronger.

May God be pleased with everyone who contributed to our branch opening. May God not let our efforts go to waste.

Esteemed friends,

As I conclude my remarks here, I thank all those who love MÜSİAD, from our founding cadre to the newest member to join our family, who have contributed to our MÜSİAD reaching these days. I pray for God's mercy upon those who have departed from among us.

I thank all our members, our branch presidents and the officials who contributed to the opening of our Australia Melbourne and Sydney Branches.

MÜSİAD has come to these days with faith, with love for the cause and with patience. God willing, by working with determination night and day, with God's permission we will also shape the future “as one and together”.

I hope that the opening of our Australia Branch will bring blessings to the MÜSİAD community first and foremost, and to our country and our nation. I greet you all with my most sincere feelings...

May God protect you.

Mahmut Asmalı

President of MÜSİAD