Washington, DC - As part of Turkey’s Group of 20 (G20) presidency in 2015, the Business20-Turkey (B20) outreach group conducted its first joint meeting at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (RRB/ITC) in Washington D.C on April 16-17, 2015. More than 300 task force members from all around the world participated in these two-day meetings. The B20-Turkey outreach group, chaired by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, has six task forces which met to discuss the following issues: trade; infrastructure and investment; financing growth; employment; anti-corruption; and lastly SMEs and entrepreneurship. On April 16th task forces focused on employment, anti-corruption and SMEs & entrepreneurship gathered with their chairs and discussed their first draft of policy papers. On April 17th, trade, infrastructure and investment and financing growth task forces gathered to discuss their draft policy papers.

Additionally, TEPAV (Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey), a Turkish think-tank leading Think-20 outreach group during Turkey’s G20 Presidency, led an event titled “Challenges to the Global Economy and the Role of the G-20” on April 16 at the RRB/ITC. The keynote speaker of the event was Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Ali Babacan. Welcoming remarks were made by Andrew Gelfuso, Vice President of the World Trade Center, Washington D.C., and the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Opening remarks by TOBB President and the head of TEPAV Board of Trustees M. Rifat Hisarciklioglu introduced Deputy Prime Minister Babacan.

Deputy Prime Minister Babacan elaborated on the Turkish G20 Presidency’s priorities in 2015 - inclusiveness, implementation and investment. He also answered questions from representatives of Washington-based leading think tanks at the panel discussion moderated by TEPAV Director Professor Güven Sak. The discussion concentrated on Turkey’s G20 Presidency’s agenda relating to the global financial architecture, global governance, low-income developing countries, infrastructure investments and global trade. Panelists included Matt Goodman, William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); John Lipsky, Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute at Johns Hopkins University and former vice president of the IMF; Amar Bhattacharya, Senior Fellow at the Global Economy & Development Program at the Brookings Institution; Staci Warden, Executive Director of the Center for Financial Markets at the Milken Institute; and Caroline Freund, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute.

On April 17, 2015, B20 Turkey also organized a plenary titled "Towards a Global Steering Mechanism” co-hosted with G20 Turkey Presidency, IMF and the World Bank Group. The Plenary Conference which was held consecutively with IMF/WB Spring Meetings welcomed over 300 business people, economists and journalists around the world. The event opened with the remarks of B20 Turkey Chair M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Chairman and CEO of Coca Cola Company Muhtar Kent, Managing Director of IMF Christine Lagarde, President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim and Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Ali Babacan.

About TOBB:

Together, the G20 economies account for 85% of the global economy, 80% of world trade, and two-thirds of the global population. The G20 was formally established on September 26, 1999 in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis where it played a key role in supporting the first stages of economic recovery. The G20 continues to promote measures to reform international financial institutions, improve financial regulation, and strengthen the global economy, through an increasingly comprehensive agenda. Members of the G20 include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union. This year, Turkey is leading G20 efforts.

B20 (the Business 20) outreach group is an influential platform bringing together business leaders from G20 economies, and advocates for critical issues for enterprises. Each year, the B20’s principal task is to facilitate exchanges between business communities from different countries and to develop consensuses around critical issues for businesses. The B20 has been instrumental in providing links between global policymakers—including governments and relevant international institutions—and business communities around the world.

In 2015, B20 Turkey will continue to support dialogue between the business world, global policymakers, and G20 leaders. Building on the successes of prior B20 conferences in Korea, France, Mexico, Russia and Australia, in 2015, B20-Turkey continues to develop comprehensive and tangible recommendations to promote global growth and job creation, and support cross-country economic collaboration. B20 Turkey aims to bring a new impetus to the B20 process by developing an inclusive approach to support global recovery and robust growth. An Executive Committee was created to manage the Turkish presidency of the B20 and is chaired by M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).

Founded in 1950, TOBB is the largest business organization in Turkey representing 365 chambers of commerce, industry, commerce and industry, maritime commerce and commodity exchanges. Its membership is comprised of 1.5 million firms of various sizes and sectors. TOBB works with both the government and private sector to develop effective trade policy and expand Turkey’s economy. M. Rifat Hisarciklioglu has been serving as the President of TOBB after several re-elections since June 2001.