MPM Holds 48 th Plenary Assembly

National Productivity Centre of Türkiye (MPM) held its 48 th Plenary Assembly on March 20, with the attendance of Mr. Zafer Çağlayan , Minister of Industry and Trade. The Plenary Assembly -held at the Conference Hall of the centre- was opened with the opening speech of Mr. Kerim Ünal, Secretary General and Member of the Board. Speeches were also made by the Minister of Industry and Commerce Mr. Zafer Çağlayan , Chairman Mr. Ergün Atalay , Chairman of TİSK Mr. Tuğrul Kudatgobilik , Deputy Chairman of TOBB Mr. Nejat Koçer and Deputy Chairman of TZOB Mr. Şemsi Bayraktar.

Mr. Ünal thanked to the Minister of Industry and Commerce Mr. Zafer Çağlayan, chairmen of social parties and all participants for their attendance to the Plenary Assembly in his opening speech.

The Minister of Industry and Commerce Mr. Zafer Çağlayan referred to the activities of MPM and said, “ I would like to congratulate all MPM employees and the Chairman Mr. Atalay for their activities”. Mr. Çağlayan indicated that the 16 th World Productivity Congress and European Productivity Conference to be hosted by MPM in 2010 is an internationally-remarkable success. “ As the Ministry, we will provide the entire support during the preparation for the congress. It will be a tremendously beautiful work together with the support of our social parties ” said he. Having also emphasized the efforts MPM conducts in overall country, Mr. Çağlayan indicated that the concept of productivity has been explained in 50 provinces with important and successful works and he is very glad as the related Minister.

Having also spoken about the current global crisis in his speech, Mr. Çağlayan expressed that Türkiye has also been influenced from the crisis. He said they have laid down nearly 50 measures against the global crisis as the government so far, and they aim to prevent the loss of employment and production with the measures taken. 

Chairman of the Board Mr. Ergün Atalay mentioned about the national and international efforts of MPM and said, “ Similar to the previous years, MPM has undertaken many beneficial works during the one-year that I have served .” Having also indicated the importance of unionization, Atalay said, “Türkiye needs Türk-İş, and Türk-İş needs Türkiye”.

Chairman of TİSK Mr. Tuğrul Kudatgobilik stated that the government, employee and employer create marvels in Türkiye when they act together, and the tripartite dialogue exist in the structure of MPM proves this. Mr. Kudatgobilik emphasized the Turkish industrialists registered 7.2 growth between 2002 and 2007 hand in hand with the Turkish laborers.  Speaking afterwards, TOBB Deputy Chairman Mr. Nejat Koçer also stated that the productivity increase particularly in industry for the last 7 years has been a positive development and it is one of the fundamental reasons of the economic growth; “ However, this is still not enough. Because, according to the average of Turkiye, each employee contributes 10 dollars to the national income with one hour work, while the same rate is 30 dollars in Europe and 40 dollars in the US. ” Mr. Koçer expressed that the guiding activities of public organizations like MPM for public and enterprises with a contemporary vision and work mentality is essential and added “ As TOBB, we are always ready to support and cooperate with MPM in order to increase the productivity level in our country” .

TZOB Chairman Mr. Şemsi Bayraktar said the agricultural industry has severely been affected from the economic crisis. Mr. Bayraktar also mentioned that among the OECD countries, Türkiye is one of those that provide lowest support to agriculture. Mr. Bayraktar indicated that the agricultural exports of Türkiye would increase if the agricultural potential is efficiently used. Following the speeches, the new members of the board of directors were elected. The new members of the board are as follows:

Chairman – Mr. Akansel KOÇ (representing TİSK)

Deputy Chairman – Prof. Mehmet EROĞLU (representing University)

Member – Mr. Ramazan YILDIRIM (representing Government)

Member – Mr. Mustafa DERYAL (representing TOBB)

Member –Mr. Mustafa TÜRKEL (representing TÜRK-İŞ)

Member –Mr. Bekir Şinasi ÖZDEMİR (representing TZOB)

Member  - Mr. Kerim ÜNAL (Secretary General)