TOURISM PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The 102nd General Administrative Board Meeting of the MÜSİAD Visionary Anatolia Meetings was held under the title “Developing City Economies with New Tourism Resources”, hosted by the Kastamonu Branch

The 102nd General Administrative Board Meeting of the MÜSİAD Visionary Anatolia Meetings was held under the title “Developing City Economies with New Tourism Resources”, hosted by the Kastamonu Branch.

The meeting was attended by MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan, Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance Nureddin Nebati, AK Party Kastamonu Deputy Metin Çelik, Kastamonu Deputy Governor Ünal Kılıçarslan, Mayor Rahmi Galip Vidinlioğlu, Secretary General of the Provincial Special Administration Zafer Tahir Karahasan, Member of the Presidential Health and Food Policies Board Ümmü Gülşen Öztürk, Chairman of the MÜSİAD New Tourism Resources Committee Muhammet Ali Özeken, Chairman of the Kastamonu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Oğuz Fındıkoğlu, Chairman of the Provincial General Assembly Güray Parçal and business people.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, President Abdurrahman Kaan pointed out that MÜSİAD makes a major contribution to regional development.

Kaan said, "By coming together with business people in every corner of the world, above all in Anatolia, we work for our common goals. MÜSİAD stands at a key point in regional development, which is one of the important conditions for achieving holistic development. On the one hand we are expanding our fields of activity all over the world, and on the other we are reaching every one of our cities by weaving a strong network across our country. Alongside general issues, we also identify local problems and develop solution proposals. Unlike other civil society organizations, MÜSİAD makes a major contribution to regional development."

Drawing attention in his speech to the subjects of diversity and innovation in tourism, Kaan said, "Each of our regions and each of our cities holds within it a tourism potential of its own. There is now no obstacle before us to bringing this potential to light. In order to make a leap in tourism, we need to act as soon as possible in a planned but swift manner. It is possible for us to achieve this in the most accurate way by evaluating each of our cities with its own characteristics. Diversity and innovation in tourism must be one of the subjects we particularly need to focus on in the period ahead."

Our Economy Entered a Rebalancing Process with the New Economy Program

Explaining that they have recently been witnessing the political mobility continuing all over the world and a challenging period in economic terms, Kaan noted the following:

"As business people who set foot in every corner of the world, we follow this process closely. Therefore, the observations we make and the experience we gain are up to date as well as real. When we take into account the finding that 2018 was a difficult year for the whole world and the attacks directed at our country's economy last August, we see the reality that 2019 is a year of struggling with difficulties. Without remaining long in the shock of the attacks carried out through the exchange rate, interest rates and inflation, Türkiye managed to get through this process with the least damage thanks to the correct policies it swiftly implemented. Ahead of 2019, which was expected to be a difficult year in the context of the global economy and politics, our country launched its own political and economic paradigm shift, and with the New Economy Program that was put into practice a rebalancing process began. Today we acknowledge that a number of difficulties exist, even though they are diminishing day by day; however, Türkiye will emerge stronger from this period too, just as it did in the similar experiences it went through in the past."

Also making a call to business people in his speech, Kaan said, "Have confidence in yourselves, believe in the potential of your country, do not hold back from your investments. Because we do not have the luxury of falling into pessimism. The geography in which we were born and raised is a geography that gives birth not to despair, but to hope,

ever more strongly again every day. Türkiye will enter a rapid development process right after it gets through this period in a short time; we believe this. We will build a strong Türkiye all together." he assessed.

Attempts Are Being Made to Block Türkiye's Path Through Economic Attacks

Taking the floor after President Abdurrahman Kaan, Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance Nureddin Nebati stated in his speech that Türkiye has come a long way with the performance it has displayed from 2002 to the present day.

Noting that Türkiye increased its confidence by rising from a level of USD 3,500 in 2002 to a level exceeding USD 10,000, and even USD 11,000 in May 2013, Nebati said, "Türkiye experienced periods in which it continued its march in stability, brought inflation down to single digits, in which interest rates were lower than that and new economic moves were made. In the 6 years that have passed from the peak of that period to the present day, unfortunately very large operations were carried out against Türkiye. They did this through the attacks launched by certain gangs within politics, the judiciary and the military alike."

Saying that since last year attempts have been made to block Türkiye's path through economic attacks, Nebati used the following words: "Those who have been trying to rein us in through economic attacks since last year have seen this very clearly. The new economic programs we put forward 40 days after 10 August were important. When we look at the performance we displayed both at the end of last year and this year, it was important in terms of showing how we have been able to cope with these crises."