Istanbul business community elects new chairman

AVDAGIC TAKES OFFICE AT İTO

- Istanbul's business community, which accounts for approximately one-third of Turkey's national income, has elected its new chairman. - Şekib Avdagiç became the new Board Chairman of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, representing 400,000 Istanbul companies. İTO's new Chairman Avdagiç: - "Our projects, which will add strength to the power of our 400,000 members, will be a strong guarantee for Turkey's bright future under the leadership of President Erdoğan" - "We have precision-targeted projects ready that will play a key role in growth. We don't have even an hour to lose" Şekib Avdagiç became the new Board Chairman of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO), of which on average 1 in every 4 companies in Turkey is a member. The Assembly Members of İTO, representing 81 different professions, gathered today at the Chamber's Eminönü Central Building to elect the new Board of Directors. According to the election results that ended at 17:00, Şekib Avdagiç became the 24th Board Chairman of İTO, which has a 136-year-old heritage. The new board of directors under Avdagiç's presidency consists of the following names: Şekib Avdagiç, İsrafil Kuralay, Servet Samsama, İbrahim Doğan Salman, Dursun Topçu, Ahmet Özer, Yakup Köç, Burhan Polat, Levent Taş, Bahadır Yaşık, Adil Coşkun.

UNDER OUR PRESIDENT'S LEADERSHIP, A GUARANTEE FOR TURKEY'S BRIGHT FUTURE

Istanbul Chamber of Commerce's new Chairman Şekib Avdagiç, speaking to Assembly Members after the election results were announced, said: "A brand new road lies ahead of us. Our projects, which will add strength to the power of our 400,000 members, will be a strong guarantee for Turkey's bright future under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. We have precision-targeted projects ready that will play a key role in growth. We don't have even an hour to lose," he said. Avdagiç extended separate thanks to all institutions, civil society organizations and sector representatives, particularly Istanbul Chamber of Commerce members, who provided full support during the candidacy process with great consensus. Avdagiç said, "Many of our colleagues stood with us at this point, offered support and rolled up their sleeves. I extend my gratitude to all of them on this occasion."

'WE ARE HERE TO IMPLEMENT PROJECTS THAT WILL RAISE ISTANBUL'S BRAND VALUE'

Emphasizing that İTO is a very strong soldier of the vision of Turkey as a leading country achieved in an environment where boundaries are being redrawn and new rules of economics and trade are being written, Avdagiç said, "We are here to implement projects that raise Istanbul's brand value and strengthen the bridges extending from Turkey to the world." Avdagiç said, "We counter the perception games in foreign exchange with our commercial power. We are here to break the chains of interest with our production capacity. We are people who view investment decisions fed by domestic resources as a national matter. That is why Istanbul Chamber of Commerce is, for us, a centuries-old tree that gives courage to the business world. We regard the favor you have shown me and my colleagues in this light as a duty," he said. Istanbul Chamber of Commerce is one of the world's five largest chambers by number of members. İTO represents 1 in every 4 companies on average in Turkey. İTO members generate 28 percent of national income, 43 percent of total tax revenue and more than 50 percent of total foreign trade volume.