The 39th Joint Meeting of Muğla Chambers and Stock Exchange was held in Marmaris. At the meeting, support was requested from the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey with a jointly signed letter requesting that the National Vehicle Identification System (UTTS) implementation obligation be postponed for 6 months and come into force as of June 30, 2025.
The 39th joint meeting of Muğla Chambers and Commodity Exchange, operating under the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), was held on Friday, December 6, 2024, hosted by Marmaris Chamber of Commerce.
The meeting was attended by Marmaris District Governor Nurullah Kaya, Marmaris Mayor Acar Ünlü, Muğla Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Merve Fidem Barut, İşkur Provincial Director Zahide Altınok, Muğla Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MUTSO) Board of Directors Chairman Bülent Karakuş, Muğla Commodity Exchange Assembly Chairman Uğur Özen and Board of Directors Chairman Hurşit Öztürk, Fethiye Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FTSO) Assembly Chairman Kemal Hıra and Board of Directors Chairman Osman Çıralı, Marmaris Chamber of Commerce (MTO) Assembly Chairman Zekiye İpci and Board of Directors Chairman Mutlu Ayhan, Bodrum Chamber of Commerce (BODTO) Assembly Chairman İlhan Ersan and Board of Directors Chairman Mahmut Serdar Kocadon, Milas Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MİTSO) Assembly Chairman Mustafa Yüksel and Board of Directors Chairman Reşit Özer, İMEAK Chamber of Shipping Fethiye Branch Assembly Chairman Onur Ugan and Board of Directors Chairman İlkay Tugay, Bodrum Branch Board of Directors Chairman Orhan Dinç, Marmaris Branch Board Member Mehmet Gümüş. FTSO Assembly Clerk member Nihat Oran, Board Vice President Ramazan Dim, Board members Veli Önver, Halil İbrahim Öztürk, Emre Başaran, Süleyman Kaya and Mehmet Akif Erkek were also present at the meeting. The main problems experienced in commercial life and joint efforts throughout Muğla were evaluated.
The opening speech of the meeting was made by MTO Board Chairman S. Mutlu Ayhan, who provided information to the participants about the tourism sector in Marmaris. Chairman Ayhan stated that it was pleasing that Muğla ranked 3rd among the cities that attract the most tourists in Turkey, and pointed out that the increase in the number of tourists was not reflected in the tourism economy in the same way. Emphasizing that measures that will increase the competitiveness of Turkish tourism in the world market should be taken as soon as possible, Ayhan added that practices such as increasing costs, inflation accounting, applying interest to businesses with the customs method, cash payment limit, new generation cash register POS device requirement, and national vehicle recognition system requirement increased the burden on the shoulders of tourism professionals. Chairman Ayhan said, “Muğla is a very important destination with 2 airports, 2 cruise ports, 51 yacht harbors and marinas, and 113 blue flag beaches. Hosting a total of 4585 Immovable Cultural Assets, including world-famous Ancient Cities such as Knidos, Stratonikea, Letoon, Kaunos, Hekatomnos, which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List, Muğla is an important player in the sector with 3600 thousand beds in 260 accommodation facilities. The number of tourists coming this year is 3 million 640 thousand. The number of tourists coming to Rhodes Island, which is right next to us, as of the end of September this year is 3 million. Unfortunately, Muğla, which has so much natural beauty, cultural heritage and financial investment, is not where it deserves to be. We need to take measures to correct the mistakes as soon as possible,” he said.
Speaking at the meeting, Marmaris Mayor Acar Ünlü said, “The main sector of Marmaris is tourism. It is our source of income and life. However, unfortunately, it is going backwards every passing day. We are trying to focus on promotion by participating in domestic and international markets. Tourism fairs are still relevant, but the commercial activities of agencies are more important. Therefore, we need to produce more permanent solutions for target markets. There are hundreds of destinations even in Turkey. Local governments should be supported more and Marmaris promotion should be given more priority.”
Marmaris District Governor Nurullah Kaya said, “The issues of zoning and illegal construction are very important in Marmaris. Our public works continue in this sense. I believe in the power of working together to produce solutions to housing and employment problems. Especially the working population in Marmaris is experiencing serious problems in terms of housing. Our projects are ready to produce a permanent solution with the support of our state. We will eliminate this problem as soon as possible.”
İŞKUR Provincial Director Zahide Altınok informed the participants about the contributions of the incentives and programs implemented in 2024 to employment. Emphasizing that there was a 17 percent increase in the number of job placements compared to the same period last year, Altınok said, “As of the end of November 2023, 30 people were placed in jobs through İŞKUR. This year, 630 people joined the workforce with an increase of 17 percent.” Altınok announced that a protocol was signed in cooperation with the Turkish Employment Agency and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) to train the workforce suitable for the qualifications demanded by the labor market. Stating that employers will be able to use quotas for up to 36 percent of their employee numbers within the scope of the protocol, Altınok said, “The training programs, which will last up to 770 actual days, will provide participants with both theoretical and practical information and offer them the opportunity to apply the competencies they have gained. In this way, employers will have the opportunity to train the qualified personnel they need. He made the following assessment: “Participants’ pocket money for the training, work accident and occupational disease insurance and general health insurance premium expenses will be covered by İŞKUR.”
Following the opening speeches, Chamber/Commodity Exchange representatives took the floor and expressed the issues and opinions they wanted to convey regarding the agenda.
President Çıralı shared his views on participation in fairs
Speaking at the meeting, FTSO Board Chairman Osman Çıralı shared his observations about international fairs and said, “As Muğla Chambers, we are trying to promote our province worldwide in unity and togetherness. With the unifying approach of our Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ahmet Aras, we have had the chance to take a stronger place in national and international fairs, especially in the recent period. We should make good use of this chance. I believe that we can make much more effective promotions, especially by ensuring the participation of our member businesses in foreign fairs, in large stands purchased with the support of our Metropolitan Municipality.”
Çıralı also shared his views on the maximum price tariff determined by the Chambers with the participants and said, "What method should we follow in order to prevent our businesses and consumers from being victimized in this regard?"
Milas Chamber of Commerce and Industry Board Chairman Reşit Özer drew attention to the importance of working together on maximum price tariffs in his speech. Chairman Özer said, “As Muğla, we need to focus more on fair and promotional activities both domestically and internationally. As a Chamber, we focus on products with geographical indications. However, branding and promotion are among the most important issues for Muğla.”
Muğla Chamber of Commerce and Industry Board Chairman Bülent Karakuş touched upon the importance of fair participation in his speech. President Karakuş said, “Even if there is only 1 employee, fair participation should definitely be ensured. Not only tourism but also sectors such as agriculture and logistics should come to the fore. Supports should also be used in this sense. We should not forget to evaluate the İşkur incentives. The promotion of Muğla will benefit all of us.”
Hurşit Öztürk, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Muğla Chamber of Commerce, noted the following: “Agriculture is as important as tourism for our province. We opened our 100th Year Food Analysis Laboratory in cooperation with Muğla Metropolitan Municipality. We must cooperate in order to ensure the continuity of the laboratory and to reach a level where we can perform all food analyses. Preventing adulteration, applying the discount in diesel prices to the agricultural sector, and resolving issues such as illegal slaughtering of red meat are important for the agricultural sector.”
Bodrum Chamber of Commerce Board Vice President İbrahim Akkaya noted the following in his speech: “Bodrum is a place visited by people with different social statuses. However, there is a growing water and traffic problem. We can solve human mobilization in Bodrum with public transportation. As our population increases, problems such as housing, illegal construction, and storage areas continue to increase. Finding solutions to these problems is of vital importance for the future of Bodrum.”
IMEAK Chamber of Shipping Marmaris Branch President Halil Bağlı said, “As the chambers of shipping, we will now have a say in the port operations under the auspices of our Muğla Metropolitan Municipality. In this sense, I would like to thank Mayor Ahmet Aras. We are experiencing a decline in sea tourism for Marmaris every passing year. While we used to do tourism for 150 days, now we can barely see 90 days. The occupancy rates have dropped to almost 30%. We must cooperate to resolve these negativities.”
Taking the podium afterwards, İMEAK Chamber of Shipping Bodrum Branch President Orhan Dinç said, “The maritime sector brings the dreamed tourist portfolio to Muğla. For this reason, we will organize a Boat Show in the upcoming period. We should exhibit our local products correctly and increase our chance to compete with foreign companies. Another problem in Bodrum is mooring and boatyards. We have a port project for this. Your support is very important.”
İMEAK Chamber of Shipping Marmaris Branch President İlkay Tugay said, “We have the largest wooden boat fleet in Turkey, but the average age is very high. We need support for its renewal. We have 2 ongoing yacht-dock projects. We will share them soon. As we say everywhere, all NGOs and the public need to act together. We need to create a marine strategy to be sustainable in marine tourism. If we do not do this, we will continue to lose blood.”
The meeting addressed complaints and suggestions from Chamber member businesses regarding the difficulty of implementing the National Vehicle Identification System (UTTS), which will be mandatory for commercial vehicles as of January 1, 2025. Following the evaluations, a jointly signed letter was prepared requesting that the National Vehicle Identification System implementation requirement be postponed for 6 months and come into effect as of June 30, 2025, and support was requested from the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey. The following views were included in the letter written to the TOBB Presidency:
“Within the scope of the National Vehicle Identification System (UTTS) to be put into operation by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance for the purpose of monitoring the fuel market, in accordance with the Communiqué on Amendments to the National Vehicle Identification System Implementation General Communiqué published in the Official Gazette dated 05.10.2024, the principles regarding the establishment of UTTS at fuel stations and the automatic sending of license plate information to new generation fuel pump payment recorder devices using the said system in fuel sales have been regulated; the said system will be put into practice for all taxpayers’ commercial vehicles as of January 1, 2025. In other words, the Vehicle Identification Unit (TTB) system to be installed on vehicles within the scope of the said system must be installed and made operational on all commercial vehicles by December 31, 2024. However, the industrial enterprises and fuel stations that will install the said system have been in a difficult situation in terms of both technical infrastructure/sufficiency and time. According to the information we received from our members operating in the industry, even if the limited number of businesses that can install the system work day and night, it does not seem possible to meet all the demand by December 31st, and some of these businesses are not technically ready. At this point, with the end of 2024 and the last 25 days left for the implementation to begin, our Chamber is informed by our various stakeholders that there is a great time constraint in terms of the installation and setup of the systems in question in vehicles and fuel stations. It can be estimated and appreciated that sufficient and necessary time is needed for the installation of this new system for both business owners, fuel stations and businesses that will perform the installations.
In this context, we kindly request your support and the necessary action to postpone the implementation of the National Vehicle Identification System (UTTS) by at least 6 months and postpone the effective date of the notification to 30 June 2025.”
