Turkish union of chambers head attends "Partners for a New Beginning Summit" in Washington

WASHINGTON (A.A) - 01.06.2011 - Chairman of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), Rifat Hisarciklioglu, attended the "Partners for a New Beginning (PNB) Summit" in Washington on Tuesday.
The PNB initiative was established by the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Chairman of the Aspen Institute Walter Isaacson and Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola corporation Muhtar Kent on April 27, 2010 in order to meet the "new beginning" aim of U.S. President Barack Obama as stated in a speech delivered in Cairo.
The PNB was formed to promote United States' economic, scientific and educational relations with countries whose majority of the population was comprised of Muslims.
Among the targets of the PNB is Turkey. The Turkish leg of the PNB is being carried out by a Steering Committee led by Rifat Hisarciklioglu who argues that the good political and military relations between Ankara and Washington should also reflect on economic relations.
In a speech delivered at the PNB Summit, Hisarciklioglu touched on Turkey's economic works including those pertaining to Turkish-U.S. commerce and the development of the region.
Our entrepreneurs are Turkey's most crucial resources. Strengthening the entrepreneurs is important not only for Turkey but also the whole region, Hisarciklioglu said.
Only a middle class entrepreneurship can facilitate democracy and stability in the region, Hisarciklioglu noted.
We want to develop the relations between entrepreneurs, investors and universities of Turkey and the United States, Hisarciklioglu underlined.
Touching on their projects as the PNB-Turkey platform, Hisarciklioglu said that it was high time to focus on economic relations between Turkey and the United States.
We must especially focus on young and female entrepreneurs, Hisarciklioglu stressed.
We have to include not only businesspeople but also labor unions, universities, new entrepreneurs and civil society organizations in this process, Hisarciklioglu also said.
Following the summit, Hisarciklioglu attended a dinner hosted by Hillary Clinton.