Our China trip taken with our President Mr. Abdullah Gül and a group of businessmen on June 24-29 has been very successful.

President Mr. Abdullah Gül made an incredible gesture. At the meeting in Beijing he said: "I, as the President of the Turkish Republic, am ready to sign any guarantee bond for the success and reliability of each businessman who accompanied me in this journey regarding all eventual partnerships and investments in which they will engage". This statement stunned both the Turkish and Chinese businessmen. This had been said only once before, by Turgut Özal. This attitude of being the guaranteur of his own businessmen is unique. Due to the positive effect created by this statement the China trip ended with a total of 4 billion dollar's worth business agreements. Our businessmen gained the representation of many companies and made a good start for partnerships. “What’s your population this year?” asked Chinese President Hu Jintao. When he heard that we had reached 70 million, he said “How nice, so you all know each other".

We Turkish businessmen think that our country is big in many aspects. I think maybe because we make comparisons with European countries. On the other hand the USA is of course very big, in terms of acreage as well as population. But putting all countries aside, China is really really big. In every factory we visited we saw 10 thousand, 20 thousand, 40 thousand workers. They look at the future from a very large perspective. While in all the world, including Turkey, there is a recession of 13.8, China is advancing at a rate of 6.1. Maybe I won’t be able to see it, but I believe that in the near future China will reach a per capita income of 50 thousand dollars. I think all Turkish businessmen should visit China for inspiration and to expand their vision.

When we came back from our 10-day trip, we saw that the same issues were still being discussed and no solutions were reached. We still busy ourselves with the same gossip and disputes. The world is flying and we are still trying to walk. We have to put aside these issues and start to think how we, as Turkish People, Turkish Businessmen, Turkish Doctors, Turkish Workers, Turkish Engineers and Turkish Students, can create added value for our country and take immedaite action. Before it’s too late.