Kızıltepe Commodity Exchange Chairman Mehmet Şahin attended the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Chamber / Stock Exchange consultation meeting chaired by TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu. He expressed the agricultural problems of our region at the meeting.
In the Eastern and Southeastern Regional Consultation Meeting, the heads of the Chambers and Commodity Exchanges expressed their opinions and suggestions to consult the problems in their provinces and find solutions.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated in his speech here that during the epidemic, the presidents of chambers and Commodity Exchanges were the voice of the business world in the region and forwarded their troubles. Stating that they presented the 70-item set of proposals to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in March after the consultations, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Most of these have been implemented and continue to be implemented. Here, the last VAT rate in the education sector has been reduced. The period of benefiting from the short work allowance has been extended to October 31st. A new district-based structuring was initiated in the investment incentive system”.
Emphasizing the issues, our TOBB President said: “There should be a maturity opportunity for tax-SSI payments, pending receivables in the public sector (primarily the medical sector) (in cash or bonds) should be paid. Short work allowance implementation should continue until the end of 2020. YEKDEM costs should be reduced. GEKAP related loads should be reduced / the application should be postponed to 2021. It should be ensured that COVID-19 is not covered by a work accident. Articles against agencies in the Insurance Agents Regulation should be changed. There are practices in the market that distort public competition, and these should come to a halt. Precautions should be taken against the high prices of the inputs used in agricultural production."
During the meeting, our President of Board of Director Mehmet Şahin said the ban on flour export affects our industrialists operating in the field of flour production in Mardin Organized Industrial Zone; banning the export of flour consisting of domestic wheat puts our industrialists in a difficult position as well as the local wheat is kept in stocks and the prohibition will continue for a long time, and our farmers will have great difficulties in wheat sales. Consequently, the flour export should be allowed as soon as possible.
At the meeting, President Şahin said, “The GAP action plan will be implemented as a project to eliminate the economic and social development gap between regions as it will take effect as a project of liberation from unemployment and migration and consequently will be a new milestone for our country and our region. We hope that our most important expectation is to accelerate the dam construction project here in Mardin so that our lands will attain abundance as soon as possible, and that the GAP irrigation canals work will continue rapidly and reach the Mesopotamian lands as soon as possible.”
In the communiqué published on 9 November 2019, unfortunately, again specific to Mardin,"In Artuklu, Derik, Kızıltepe and Nusaybin Districts, it was declared that support will be given to corn production with drop-irrigation as in the past, and support premium will not be given to other various irrigation” and that resulted in the dramatic fall of corn production. Şahin declared supports should be available to all forms of irrigation.
In the conclusion of the consultation meeting, it was decreed that the issues and solutions voiced by the Commodity Exchange and Chambers Chairmen will be reported by Turkey Chambers and Stock Exchanges Union (TOBB) to related Ministries.
