OLTAŞ CAĞ KEBAP PRODUCTION and INTEGRATED MEAT FACILITY GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY

8 AUGUST 2020

ERZURUM

Distinguished Representatives of the Erzurum Business World,

Esteemed MÜSİAD Members and Friends,

Esteemed Members of the Press,

Here in Erzurum, where we have come together on the occasion of laying the foundation of an important facility, I respectfully greet you; welcome, you have brought joy with you.

Esteemed Guests,

There is a reason why I call the cağ kebab production facility whose foundation we will lay today important:

We regard “regional development” as one of the most important steps on the path to the development of our country. Therefore, the value of investments that will contribute to regional development is very great for us.

As MÜSİAD business people, we are carrying out various works in order to take this contribution even further and to encourage our investors towards new investments.

As you know, together with the Renewal we launched last year, we also brought many of our committees to life.

The Gastro-Economy and Turkish Culinary Arts Committee, the Cultural Brand Creation Committee, the Smart Cities and Urban Economies Committee and the New Tourism Resources Development Committee, which carry out work for the development of cities and for regional development to be realized in the long term, are a few of them.

While guiding business people from different sectors so that they may discover correct and well-judged investments, our committees also follow these up and are instrumental in our investors charting new horizons.

Distinguished Guests,

As you know, the realization of economic and social development at the level of the country depends first of all on eliminating or minimizing the imbalances between regions.

And this can only be achieved through local and regional development.

Today, local administrations and civil society organizations play an important role in achieving local and regional development.

Because civil society organizations, by using the advantages they possess for the development of their field of activity at the local and regional level, have functions capable of ensuring national and social development.

As the world’s most widespread civil society organization and a powerful capital platform, a great duty falls to MÜSİAD at this point as well.

The “urban economy” that cities create is on the one hand connected to the economic course of the country, while on the other hand it is autonomous; for cities, while conducting their trade and investments using the potential and the resources they possess, also build an economy peculiar to themselves.

The development of urban economies, one of the important cogs in the wheel of the national economy, is extremely important in that it protects the people of the region from such compulsory situations as migration to different cities.

Cities that are developed and that compete, beyond self-sufficiency, in the contribution they make to the economy of the country will also embrace the people of their own soil and will to a large extent remove the phenomenon of internal migration in particular from the agenda.

These grounds and requirements are the reason why, with the responsibility we feel as MÜSİAD, we dwell meticulously on this subject.

We attach great importance to the Development of Urban Economies through New Tourism Resources.

When we look at the performance and the progress that Türkiye, regarded as one of the important tourism regions in the world, has displayed in tourism, a gratifying picture emerges before us. On the other hand, however, we also see that although we hold great advantages against our competitors in the world, we are not making sufficient use of them. Therefore, we cannot fully reveal the tourism potential that our country actually

possesses. In order to achieve this, we need a detailed “tourism roadmap” and resolute implementation policies.

With the cultural, historical and natural beauties it harbours, Türkiye, unlike many countries, has the opportunity to develop its tourism not in a single direction but with different alternatives.

While aiming for an increase in the number of visitors to our cities, we must also diversify the reasons for their visits. In other words, we need to multiply our tourism alternatives.

Here I will share with you an example in the world that I find important:

The Spanish city of Donostia, known as San Sebastian.

We are speaking of a city with a population of approximately 200 thousand. Yet today San Sebastian is spoken of as one of the gastronomy centers of the world. This small city, which also hosts an international gastronomy summit, welcomes millions of tourists every year.

When we consider that Anatolia possesses a 14 thousand-year-old culinary culture, we clearly see the tourism potential that Türkiye carries even in this field alone.

Even going by this example alone, we clearly see that we too must now create “brand cities” in certain fields.

By applying different promotion strategies, we must make very good use of region-specific values and cultural heritage and develop special practices and promotion methods accordingly.

Unlike other countries, our country is filled with the richness of the soil of Anatolia in many different fields such as thermal tourism, culture, nature, health and gastronomy. We must now make the best possible use of this and place our country in the top ranks of the world tourism league.

Precisely at this point, Türkiye holds a very great advantage in its hands not only with its culture and its nature but with its rich cuisine.

We regard this groundbreaking ceremony we are holding today as extremely important for our industry and for our food sector; but on the other hand, we define it not merely as a step taken to meet the need of the domestic market, but also as a move on the road to introducing the unparalleled flavours of our country to the world.

Cağ kebab is the only type of kebab in the world that is cut and served horizontally. Look, even this feature alone is proof that we possess a great brand flavour.

We are not a country that is a stranger to tourism or that is only just becoming acquainted with it; however, we see the fact that, as many things in the world undergo change, the understanding and the habits of tourism have not remained the same either.

Therefore, while developing physical facilities such as building stock and transport, we must on the other hand also ensure intellectual development.

We must become aware of the values we hold and lay claim to them by promoting them in the best possible way.

We have no doubt whatsoever that when we implement all these pieces in full, we will carry our existing tourism success much higher and will achieve a great leap even with gastronomy alone.

And when we achieve this, through food and tourism, which are among the sectors with the greatest effect and contribution to employment, we will also have enabled the people of our Anatolia to continue their lives on the lands where they were born, where they grew up and which they know.

Esteemed Guests,

As MÜSİAD, we are working with all our might so that Türkiye may reach the success it has set as its target in the world arena and make it sustainable.

By acting together with our friends whose cause is Türkiye, we want to bring our country to this success in the shortest possible time.

All our effort is directed towards our Türkiye taking its place among the countries that determine their own future position and have a say in the world.

We will work hard. We will work for our gains. For our civilization, for our values, for our children and our generations, we will work more than ever. We will succeed all together; Together!

Distinguished Guests,

As I complete my remarks, I wish that our new facility may bring blessings to Erzurum first and foremost and to our country, and I greet you all with respect and affection.

Abdurrahman Kaan

President of MÜSİAD