MÜSİAD TRNC BRANCH OPENING PROGRAM

2 JULY 2021

Honourable President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Honourable Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Honourable Ambassador

Honourable Minister

Honourable President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce

Esteemed Members of the MÜSİAD Board of Directors,

Esteemed President and Members of the MÜSİAD Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Branch

Esteemed Members of the Press,

Ladies and gentlemen

I greet you all with respect at our branch opening, which has been the occasion for us to come together with you once again in Cyprus; welcome, you have honoured us.

Distinguished Guests,

The Republic of Türkiye is a bridge that connects the TRNC to the world in economic terms.

Türkiye, which holds the most important share in the foreign trade of the TRNC, an economy of approximately 4 billion dollars, exports on average around 1 billion dollars a year to the country. The TRNC’s annual exports to Türkiye, on the other hand, vary on average between 50 and 60 million dollars.

In 2020, Türkiye’s exports to the TRNC declined by %33.7 compared to the previous year, falling from 1.3 billion dollars to 860 million dollars, while the TRNC’s exports to Türkiye recorded an increase of approximately %30, rising from 62 million dollars to 80 million dollars.

Thus, in the period in question, its trade with Türkiye covered %71 of the TRNC’s total exports and %79 of its total imports.

In general terms, the export sector in the TRNC faces serious problems because of the isolations and embargoes applied in the international arena.

In particular, the decisions taken by the Court of Justice of the European Union have blocked the export of many products to the EU. However, with the market opportunities and other support provided by Türkiye, the export sector is trying to stay on its feet.

In this respect, it is very important to identify and to increase the concrete areas of opportunity in which the business worlds of the two countries can increase their mutual activities.

Within this framework, we must continue to focus on mutual win-win strategies that envisage not only increasing the shares the Turkish and TRNC economies take from each other, but also the sustainable growth of both economies.

While continuing our work in this scope as MÜSİAD, we recently conveyed our views and proposals on the Action Plan prepared by the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Türkiye with the aim of developing our commercial and economic relations with the TRNC.

On the other hand, we paid a visit to TRNC President Mr. Ersin Tatar and TRNC Prime Minister Mr. Ersan Saner and held a detailed meeting with them.

Afterwards, by taking part in the Türkiye-TRNC Business Forum, we held consultations on strengthening and sustaining regional cooperation.

Distinguished Guests,

MÜSİAD provides services at 89 points in Türkiye and at 225 points in 95 countries worldwide.Today the presidents of our Germany, India, Georgia and Qatar branches and our esteemed businesspeople are here.They came to see and learn about the investment and export opportunities of Cyprus at first hand..

We believe that the TRNC, which we know carries serious potential in the sectors of tourism above all, as well as transport, agency services, solar energy, furniture, citrus fruits and dairy products, can also diversify its relations with other countries and increase forms of cooperation through the right policies and planning.

As you know, the decision was taken to open Closed Maraş to tourism; this may be an important area of cooperation for the business worlds of our countries.

Dear friends, the Turkish people have a strong bond of affection with Northern Cyprus and with the people of Northern Cyprus. We clearly witnessed this bond during the Covid-19 Pandemic that deeply affected the whole world as well. In addition to moral support, Türkiye did not leave its brothers and sisters alone, sending vaccines to the TRNC.

As a manifestation of this bond, in order to be even stronger together in the future, we must develop the partnerships we carry out in every field.

At this point, we have no doubt that our branch, whose opening we are holding today, will also make important contributions.

Distinguished Guests,

As you know, as MÜSİAD we launched our renewal process and fulfilled almost all the initiatives we planned and promised within the framework of our renewal process. Now we are reaping the fruits of this process with our large-scale projects.

As MÜSİAD, we are developing projects aimed at increasing the contribution made to the national economy and at improving the culture of partnership among our members.

You, all our branches and our networks abroad, will be part of this integration in the new presidential term from where we left off, and with God’s permission you will be instrumental in carrying our process and our MÜSİAD much further forward.

Esteemed Guests,

As I complete my remarks here, I hope that our branch will bring good things to the business worlds of Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and I greet you with respect and affection.

Abdurrahman KAAN

President of MÜSİAD