The 24th International Business Forum (IBF), attended by industrialists and businesspeople coming from all four corners of the world, began with the agenda of the "Virus Economy".

The 24th edition of the International Business Forum (IBF), which has operated as MÜSİAD's international platform since 1995 and which brings people together through a congress held once a year and the accompanying commercial activities attended by businesspeople from the business world of 25 countries, was held this year hosted by TÜYAP.

At the forum, which hosted country representatives and businesspeople and was organized with great sacrifice in line with pandemic theories and TSE COVID 19 Safe Service standards in this difficult time the world is going through, IBF Chairman Erol Yarar said in his speech;

"If we do not take today's photograph well, if we cannot make our diagnoses correctly, we cannot carry out the treatment. Through sectoral analyses, we will listen to our experts on what today and tomorrow will bring. Life in the world has turned into a great crisis such as it has not seen in any century. When we look at the statistics in the world, 56 million people die every year. Right now this disease amounts to 1,300 thousand people in 11 months. Statistically it has increased by %1.5. When you look at how the world's economy contracts, there is only one explanation. When psychology deteriorated, the economy deteriorated as well." he said.

COVID HAS CHANGED THE WAY WE LIVE and TRADE

Recalling that governments around the world have taken very rapid decisions and that USD 7 trillion worth of fiscal and economic measures have been announced, Yarar said: "World statistics showed that the second wave would be much larger. The second wave came bigger than the first. It is necessary to continue with the economic measures in the same way. Inflation is not an agenda item at the moment. What matters is keeping businesses on their feet. The point of no return is the closure of a business. All the developing countries around the world, and governments continuously, are increasing their support without interruption, as if following the pulse of a patient in the emergency room. If businesses close, there is no return from this. If you have a restaurant today and you say you will close it down, what will you do with the employee? What will you do with the business?"

Noting in the sectoral analyses that COVID has also permanently changed lifestyles, including shopping habits, and that those who use e-commerce at the maximum level together with the logistics dimension of industrial trade will be successful, Yarar said: "We have to find solutions to the problems that increase unemployment and put people through social and individual traumas. That is why our emphasis at IBF is on the virus economy, and our wish is that the virus, which is the unchanging risk of the 21st century, comes to an end for the benefit of humanity in a short time”

In the opening speeches of IBF, MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan emphasized that most governments, whatever their economic size, were of course caught unprepared by this global crisis, which has left people face to face with deep-rooted weaknesses in public health and social security systems.

Pointing out that the G-20's shift with each passing day towards a G-2 structure consisting of the United States and China poses a serious danger for all the other actors of the global economy, Kaan continued his speech as follows: “In the new period, we must develop a critical and common political language aimed at restructuring the principal institutions of the global system such as the G-20, the World Bank, the IMF and the World Trade Organization. It is not possible for the leading actors of the global struggle for hegemony, which we expect to be even harsher in the period after the virus outbreak, to keep their place at the table while leaving Türkiye out of the equation.”

Stating that the monetary power of a country determines its production and investment power, and warning that if we try to explain and even to solve real economic principles with financial policy instruments we would both force the money in the system to remain idle and risk being deprived of the investment and production power that is essential for development, MÜSİAD President Kaan spoke as follows:

“We wholeheartedly support the economic development mobilization launched by our President and built on three pillars. When confidence was instilled in the markets, we tested within a short time how Türkiye once again became a centre of attraction in the eyes of foreign investors thanks to its strong geopolitical advantage. However, we hope that this determination will continue in the period ahead as well and that, by moving to a macro production policy, the production of inputs and semi-finished goods that will reduce the risk of cost inflation, one of our country's most important problems, will be realized through a national production drive rather than through imports.”

Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance Nureddin Nebati, one of the IBF speakers, emphasized that Türkiye provides great convenience for investors and that these conveniences have begun to be reflected in the data, saying:

“In the general ranking of the Doing Business Index, which is prepared regularly every year by the World Bank, Türkiye, which was in 43rd place last year, rose 10 places in 2020 to become the 33rd country where it is easiest to do business. The greatest progress in the index was essentially achieved in the field of taxation, which is the responsibility of our Ministry, and in this field our ranking rose from 80th to 26th.”

MÜSİAD is an organization representing the business world, whichever sector and whichever field anyone in Türkiye may be in. We are going through a historic period with steps taken, such as the deferral of loans, without feeling the fever in the market. With the steps resorted to in Türkiye, we are getting through this with very little damage. The support we have provided has reached TRY 530 billion.

Perception has overtaken fact. Realities, needs and fears are all changing in our lives. The effect it leaves behind as it passes is important. How the measures were provided. Our workplaces, factories, countries, families, our health system and our education system have tested what they can do. We will adapt to change and we will walk on here. There are opportunities in a crisis environment. How we will evaluate these opportunities is important. Without abandoning the measures, we must evaluate the opportunities with the concern of whether we are earning rightfully.

Stating that support continues with a restructuring worth TRY 500 billion, Nebati concluded his speech as follows: “Legal and democratic reforms will be carried out in Türkiye in the period ahead. We will implement transparent policies and do what is necessary so that investors are not crushed by high interest rates.”