Memberships

In the business world besides companies which grow overnight, there are those which grow gradually but with sound steps. The light for those companies which grow very rapidly is likely to soon die away.

TABA AmCham

TABA Am Cham– Turkish American Business Association


U.S.Chamber of Commerce in Turkey

www.amcham.org

TABA AmCham or Turkish American Business Association was founded on February 21 , 1987 in İstanbul to promote ; Business , Investment and Cultural relations between Turkey and the United States. Dr. Zeynel Abidin ERDEM is the chairman of TABA AmCham since 2000. On 6 July 2003 he was reelected as Chairman. On 

Historical Overwiew and Main Developments of TABA Am Cham– Turkish American Business Association U.S.Chamber of Commerce in Turkey At the time of TABA establishment there was already another TABA in İzmir founded before for the same purposes . İstanbul TABA however soon became superior with some initiatives over İzmir such as providing a ministerial decree granting official permission to enter into relations with foreign Associations and being considered as a public benefit serving Association which authorizes the Companies to write donations to TABA as expense . In the early nineties TABA İstanbul was accepted to ECACC ( the European Council of the American Chambers of Commerce ) and COCUSA ( Chambers of Commerce U.S.A. ) which meant the recognition of TABA as the American Chamber of Commerce in Turkey . In those years the main mission of TABA was to build bridges between the United States and newly formed Central Asian Countries after the collapse of the Soviet Social Republics . TABA therefore opened branches in Azerbaijan , Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan . In spite of many efforts , this initiative could not be successful mainly due to the lack of Turkish Governments support as a result of political instability . Late nineties witnessed new initiatives from TABA . After long discussions TABA İzmir abolished itself and joined TABA İstanbul .We then added “Amcham “ to our name becoming TABA Amcham which meant the recognition of TABA as the American Chamber of Commerce by the Turkish authorities as well . A new Board was elected on April 28 , 2000 which is still in power and set new strategies as will be outlined on the following documents . At present TABA AmCham is by far the largest Association of its kind with 670 members , operating with seven chapters in the following cities . ( Istanbul , İzmir , Ankara , Antalya , Adana , Denizli , Gaziantep ) Representative of major American Companies , and the largest Turkish Corporations are TABA AmCham,’s members . TABA is linked to all American Chambers of Commerce in the world through Internet . 

Dr. Erdem’s evaluation of the current Turkish American Relations 

Turkish American relations dates back to 19 th Century . ( See TABA’s booklet No 3 ) The essentials of the relations however so far were rather of non - economical natures . Cultural , social and military contributions of the U.S.A. helped Turkey to be a military power in the region . Turkey on the crossroads of the world important energy resources in the Middle East and the Central Asia served Turkey to be considered as an strategically important ally . That’s why Turkey received military aid and political support in the international arenas as the European Union and IMF fundings . 

Our former president Mr. Turgut Özal , the first time suggested a new dimension to the relations . “ Promote trade rather than aid “ How seriously he was correct was understood after September 11 Attacks . American officers after the September 11 events , tried hard to convince the people of the world that terrorism must be separated from Islam .They said so but surely they did not mean it . 

The harsh reality first was spoken by Bill Clinton that , when half of the people on earth had to live on less than two dollar a day and a billion go to bed hungry every night we can not expect to combat against terrorism . If we consider most of the Muslim countries fall on the above poverty group how we will stop the conflict between civilizations . ( See Dr. Erdem’s draft speech for Prime Minister Ecevit’s trip to the U.S.A. No 4 ) . Muslim world need to change to adapt the changes of the new century however they need a pattern that there may be a democratic , secular and liberal Muslim Country . If the only country to demonstrate this pattern has to fight with economic problems , will the words of the political leaders of the developed countries be convincing ? 

America and Turkey can do a lot to remedy the situation . ( see TABA’s country reports to the Head Office of the American Chambers of Commerce in 2000 and 2001 No 5 and 6 ) 

Overview of relevant sectors for American Investments If Turkey considers to develope its economy through investments , it must concentrate on important sectors which will contribute highest return for the investors also for the Country such as follows
- Energy : Turkey needs 6-10 billion dollar energy investments annually to cope with the increasing demand . 
Energy investment plans include primarily power plants for electricity generation . Similarly important is to prevent system losses . An estimated 25 % of energy is lossed at distribution stage It is aimed at reducing it to 10 % . Alternative sources such as solar and wind energy should also be started .
- Telecommunication : Turkey needs to upgrade its telecommunication network . Internet communication for instance does not work efficiently in the Country . GSM systems appear to be dominant in the close future . Turkey is not acting fast to install necessary hardware and software to benefit the future changes in this field .
- Transportation : Main transportation means in the country is the highways of rather poor quality which requires huge maintenance cost . Railway transportation must be immediately upgraded and extended . A country surrounded by seas should be much efficient and stronger in maritime traffic . Last but not the least is the projected and operating pipeline systems to transport crude oil and natural gas from the neighbouring countries . American investors can be attracted to the above sectors ,if Turkey succeeds to eliminate bureaucratic barriers , adapts itself to the international law frames and especially acts fast to bring transparency to the international tenders . ( See Fias report No 7 for broader information ) Turkish economy is already diversified with more than 3000 items locally manufactured and exported to Approximately hundred Countries on five continents in the world . The problem is volume rather than diversification 

Rewards of Regional Economic Integrations

What Turkish intellectuals expect for the EU accession is a question frequently asked . As a matter of fact a similar question must be asked what European people think about Turkey’s admission to EU . In short term it will be realistic to say that both parties do not have much expectations . In long term when Turkey may be accepted to EU , one wonders if this will be any good use for Turkey . Since then the whole world may be a free trade area . But in the meantime what may be the consequences of the delay in accepting Turkey to EU or if put it another way is Turkey really out of EU . Turkey in the official statistics is among the top twenty economy in the world regarding the annual GNP . If we adjust the figures by PPP it may move even an upper place . That means almost equal to 12 countries combined , candidate for EU membership . An ordinary European citizen however do not see Turkey abroad .There are about 100 000 companies right in the middle of Europe owned by Turks and the number is rising very fast . 

New Turkish entrepreneurs are targeting EU candidate countries for investments like Bulgaria , Rumania , Hungry , Poland and others . Estimated turnover of the Turkish owned Companies is close to a sixty billion Euro as of the current year . We have not yet calculated the annual income of 3.5 million Turkish citizens abroad and yet not taken into account the earning of the unrecorded economy in the Country . If EU insists on some non economical but rather political citerias which they have not imposed on any candidate country the most expected consequence will be that the Turkish citizens may renounce their citizenship and become a European citizen which then exert a real political power .

In a decade the world may turn to hydrogen cell burning system in energy production when natural gas willreplace crude oil in most areas . Turkey is on the crossroad of huge gas reserves of the world . Pipeline installations about to be completed between Turkey Russia and Iran and promising developments in Caspian pipeline project are some indications of what kind of roles Turkey may play in the future . Turkish – US economic partnership Commission took the trade with China to their agenda . Revival and modernization of the old silk road , may prosper all the countries on the route . So Turkey has a lot of frontiers for integration , the question is priority and attitude of the other Countries . 

Coming to the closer economic ties with Greece . Turkish people always had the intention of good relations with its neigbours including even Armenia , but political considerations of the others stood against it . We must however mention that although Turkish Governments willingness , betterment of the economic relations with Greece can not have a serious impact on Turkish economy . Greece take the population or total GNP counts only three quarter of the city of Istanbul . If Turkey’s integration accelerates with EU , European Companies will enjoy more benefits than the Turkish ones , taking into considerations the above facts and worldwide developments . 

Qualified Industrial zones can hold much more expectations if we consider that Turkey is already a Custom Union member and Europeans are not so much eager for Turkey’s membership . Caucasus countries can benefit from QIZ ‘ s in Turkey by going to joint productions with Turkish Companies . Turkey - US trade partnership may cover a larger area in the world and be much more strengthened to the benefit of the world peace by closing the economic gap between the developed and underdeveloped Countries . 

Mr.Erdem’s view on the political relations with the US in a world dominated by an anti terrorism campaign . 

Anti terrorism campaigns can not be carried out with words of sympathy . When close to a billion people go to bed hungry every night and most of the Muslim countries fall on this category actions speak louder than words . Few people know that the total of more than 50 Muslim countries GNP is 1.5 trillion dollar versus 9.5 trillion dollar of U.S.A. The future will be worse with the invention of new energy sources . Muslim countries in order to develope their economies need to change their education systems , ways of living and adapt themselves to the international values . They need a pattern that there may be a democratic , secular and liberal Muslim Country which may prosper without loosing Islamic values . Turkey and United States can do a lot not only by demonstrating a sample with the Turkish version of Islamic belief but also reviving economic relations of mainly the over populated Asian countries of Muslim origins . Connecting and improving the roads , best exploitation and distribution of resources , opening gateways to these countries for international trade are possible outcome of US Turkey cooperation in combatting terrorism.