Turkey needs reform marathon, not packages: Top business leader

ANKARA

The chairman of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu

Turkey’s top business leader has said the country should speed up its efforts to prove its commitment to economic reforms in order not to lag behind.

“The ones that come to the fore in the reform race win, while the ones behind go around in circles,” said Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu, the chairman of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB).

“That’s why we should be talking about a reform marathon, not reform packages,” he said.

Hisarcıklıoğlu added that reform should no longer be “a gift presented on special days” and said it must become “a lifestyle.”

Stressing the realities of “global competition,” he said the global system was today changing faster than ever before, forcing countries to keep up with faster reforms to respond to new rules of doing business.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has unveiled a series of “packages” over the last few years, aimed at restructuring the judiciary or bringing further freedoms to some sections of society. These reforms were hailed as much as they were found insufficient.

Particularly in recent months, representatives from the business world including Ali Babacan, the deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, have been warning the country must adopt new reforms to prevent Turkey from getting stuck in the middle-income trap.