İKMİB Holds 2022 Ordinary General Assembly

İKMİB 2022 Annual General Meeting Held The İKMİB Annual General Meeting, where the chemical sector's and İKMİB's 2022 activities were evaluated, was held on 14 April 2023 at the Foreign Trade Complex. The 2022 Annual General Meeting of the Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters' Association (İKMİB) was held on 14 April 2023 at the Foreign Trade Complex, attended by İKMİB Board Chairman Adil Pelister, İKMİB General Assembly Members, General Secretary of the Istanbul Mining and Metals Exporters' Associations (İMMİB) Dr. S. Armağan Vurdu, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and TİM. With record exports of USD 33.6 billion in 2022, the chemical sector succeeded in becoming Turkey's highest-exporting sector, achieving 32 percent growth in exports and raising its share of Turkey's total exports to 13.2 percent. At the General Meeting, the matter of reducing the proportional membership fee rate collected by İKMİB from 0.4 per thousand to 0.2 per thousand was brought up again and a new decision was made. The decision is expected to take effect following approval by the Ministry of Commerce and TİM.

"We plan to organize an international chemistry conference"

İKMİB Board Chairman Adil Pelister delivered the opening remarks of the meeting, recalling that he was re-elected as Chairman for a second term at last year's Election Annual General Meeting with the support of İKMİB members and formed the Board of Directors. Stating that they have been working tirelessly since day one to bring the chemical sector to the position it deserves, Pelister continued as follows: "When we took office, our chemical sector ranked third in the country's total exports. With all of your support, we worked to raise it to permanent second place and frequently to first place, and together we achieved this. We concluded 2022 as the sector with the highest exports among the country's sectors with USD 33.6 billion in exports, in first place. Over the past five years we have achieved 92 percent growth. In 2022, by exporting to 232 countries, we also ranked first at the sector level in this area. In 2018, our per-kilogram export value was USD 0.89 as a sector, and by 2022 we have managed to raise this figure to USD 1.16. Within the framework of our 2030 vision, we will, God willing, together achieve our target of increasing our exports above USD 50 billion. For this purpose, we plan to organize an international chemistry conference by the end of 2024 at the latest to enable us to prepare our 2030 Chemical Industry Strategy document."  

"We are insistent on our decision to reduce the proportional fee to 0.2 per thousand"

Providing information about the proportional membership fee process reduced from 0.4 to 0.2 per thousand by the decision taken at last year's Election Annual General Meeting, Pelister stated, "To demonstrate our insistence on the decision we made last year's general meeting regarding the reduction of membership fees, we wanted to discuss the matter once more at this year's General Meeting to show our sensitive and demanding stance regarding our decision. For this reason, we believe we will formally register the membership fee matter at this general meeting as well."  

"We will continue our support to the earthquake region"

Recalling that on 6 February 2023 the country faced an earthquake disaster affecting 11 cities, Pelister concluded his remarks as follows: "I pray for God's mercy for our brothers and sisters who died in the earthquake. I wish speedy recovery once more for our injured. With the generous contributions of our members, we made extraordinary efforts to heal the wounds of the disaster area, and these efforts continue. From the first days of the earthquake, we organized aid to the region. We established field pharmacies. We sent medicines, medical supplies, disinfectants, cleaning and hygiene kits. We sent kitchen utensils made of plastic. We sent containers for toys and shelter. And we achieved 90 percent of these support efforts with the contributions of our colleagues in the İkmib management. Furthermore, our efforts will continue so that the chemical industry in the earthquake region can stand on its feet again."