Mr. Dursun Topçu, Vice-President of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC), heading ICOC delegation has visited Tajikistan.  The main purpose of the visit was for ICOC representatives to participate in international universal exhibition, dubbed Tajikistan 2019, which was held in Dushanbe in later March.

They have reportedly also got acquainted with conditions for holding their own exhibition here.  

Asked about the purpose of the visit and his expectations of it, Mr. Dursun Topçu, in particular, noted that a long-term cooperation binds Turkey and Tajikistan and “it has been decided at the latest top-level meetings to organize an event in Tajikistan to present Turkish goods and Turkish business in your country Tajikistan for attraction of investments in Tajikistan.”    

According to him, ICOC holds various types of exhibitions around the world every year.  “The main purpose of the visit is for us to get to know Tajikistan and your conditions better in order to know how we could organize our exhibition here and also to get acquainted with Tajikistan’s market and hold meetings with Tajik companies,” Mr. Topçu said, noting that the main purpose of the exhibition of Turkish goods it to make contribution to expansion of cooperation between Turkey and Tajikistan.  

He further noted that more than 400,000 various companies are members of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and there are very large companies among them.  “ICOC members account for the half the volume of Turkey’s foreign trade,” Mr. Topçu said.  

The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC) is an institution that organizes and records the commercial transactions of individuals and commercial institutions located in Istanbul; in addition the ICOC also keeps records for these companies. 

The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, which is one of the largest chambers of commerce in the world, consists of two main structures, one established by election and one by appointment.  The organs that are formed by election are the Meslek Komiteler (Professional Committees), Oda Meclisi (Chamber Assembly), Yönetim Kurulu (Board of Directors) and the Disiplin Kurulu (Disciplinary Board).  The organs that are established by appointment are the Genel Sekreterlik (General Secretariat) and the Şube Müdürlük (Branch Directorate).  There are 257 council members and 347 committee members who are appointed as results of elections held every four years; this makes up the structure of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce.