New era of cooperation to bolster Turkish business

The partnership sets out a five-point action plan to bolster support for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, with particular focus on harnessing the power of digital trade and enhancing access to finance.

In line with shared values and aligned purpose to enable businesses, the partnership will build on pioneering initiatives and extensive connections of both organisations to facilitate access to knowledge, build capacity and enable access to international markets for businesses in Türkiye and beyond.

Signing the agreement on behalf of ICC, Secretary General John WH. Denton AO said:

Building on our longstanding relationship, we are thrilled to be joining forces with TOBB to deliver a conducive environment and practical tools that enable smaller business and entrepreneurs to thrive and compete globally while enhancing their future readiness.

TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, who was recently elected President of the ICC World Chambers Federation (WCF) said:

Representing the Turkish business community, we have maintained an impactful cooperation with ICC for decades. With this significant agreement, we are excited to further deepen our long-term relationship with concrete outcomes and contribute to the opportunities available for the business community in the region. Together, we will be stronger and more impactful in serving everyone, every day, and everywhere.

The Partnership Agreement was signed today on the sidelines of ICC governance meetings taking place at ICC Global Headquarters in Paris. This initial 12-month agreement lays the foundations for more detailed agreements to be developed on specific areas of the Action Plan which outlines shared commitments to:

• Make ICC learning programmes more accessible via inclusion on the TOBB University of Economics and Technology.

• Drive awareness among Turkish banks of ICC’s portfolio of banking products including the ICC Trade Register Report and ICC Standards for Sustainable Trade and Sustainable Trade Finance.

• Customise the Joint ICC, and International Trade Centre Digital Export Enablement Programme (DEEP) to the needs of Turkish SMEs.

• Explore ways of promoting ICC Genesis, ICC’s pioneering self-certification tool supporting the Origin declaration customs process, as well as the ICC Certificate of Origin Chain in Türkiye.

By way of the non-financial, non-binding agreement, ICC and TOBB have committed to review the Action Plan as projects develop.