“With more than 300 members from 23 Mediterranean countries, ASCAME has a significant role in solving global problems and writing new success stories.”

ASCAME is a non-profit international organization established in the Mediterranean Region, as a centre of encountering and interacting different civilizations, to promote economic and commercial relations for the last 35 years. As the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, I would like to express our happiness not only to carry out the Presidency of the Union in the previous term but also the Vice-Presidency in this period.

As we all know, we are facing new threats and challenges on a global scale.  Terroristic attacks, regional conflicts, climate change and economic fluctuation are the first examples coming to our mind. For sure, new problems arise due to these existing ones and they are growing together. For instance; internal conflict in Syria has affected the whole World and once again spot out the terror problem as a global threat as well as the heartbreaking refugee problem. We know that more than 12 million Syrians are homeless today and unfortunately the closest witnesses to this grave situation are the neighbouring countries. However, Turkey is living the rightful pride of hosting more than 3 million refugees. It is known that there are also other countries hosting the refugees but it is not sufficient. We should be more inclusive and sensitive in this heart-rending issue.

Another example of the result of economic fluctuation is the growing rate of unemployment statics that we are facing today.  Especially the youth unemployment rate is rising. As representatives of the business world, we must create new employment opportunities. At this point, I would like to emphasize the key role of tourism. 10 hotels are opening in the Mediterranean a day, 700 million tourists globally prefer our region. Considering China’s population, it is said that only 60 million people go out of China every year. As regional countries, we must make an effort to attract this great tourist potential of China to our territory. In this way, we will make a great contribution to regional development as well as the unemployment problem.

All the troubles I have mentioned till now are more than observations; in fact, they are what we face, live and have to deal with every day. It is evident that countries cannot fight against such distress by themselves. At this point, huge responsibilities fall into national and international organizations and associations. With more than 300 members from 23 Mediterranean countries, ASCAME has a significant role in solving global problems and writing new success stories. We have to act in awareness of this amazing strength.

For the solution to the global problems that I have mentioned, we emphasise two things:  First one is the social and political circumstances causing this distress; the second one is the economic circumstances. However, we cannot avoid problems of humanity before we close economic gaps, and we cannot go too far to solve social problems. Humanitarian aid is only a facelift which is only enough to prevent disasters. The exact solution of our problems is to make production and trade more balanced, first through regional and then through global development.

As ASCAME, we are making a great effort in solving both social and economic problems with various commissions. We have valuable members working in various ranges; from tourism to logistics, innovation to energy. We, the ASCAME Board of Members, will continue to provide our support and contribution to all commissions without any distinction between the sector and the country.

By acting together as ASCAME members, we are giving a common answer to the global threats and trials we face with and have come a long way in the sense of enhancing regional development and economic co-operation.

I certainly believe that we will move on to bigger projects, collaborations and will achieve more success in the light of experiences we have gained over the past 35 years.

02/21/2017