VZCZCXRO4187
PP RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #5673/01 2720458
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 290458Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9060
INFO RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1381
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1164
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005673 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS AID FOR THOMAS MEFFORD 
DEPT FOR EUR/PPD AND EUR DAS C. GRAFFY 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREL KPAO CVIS BEXP TU
SUBJECT: BIG PAY-OFF FROM SMALL BUSINESS PROJECT 
 
 
1.(SBU) Summary: Using only $400,000 of USG funding, a small project 
between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its Turkish counterpart 
provided a big bang for the buck for the U.S.: good press, practical 
advice to Turkish SMEs, closer ties between U.S. and Turkish 
business organizations that should lead to future collaboration, 
and an opportunity for Mission outreach.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------- 
Small But Effective Project 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) With $400,000 of Economic Support Fund (ESF) money 
appropriated in FY2004, a USAID-administered project has paid 
multiple benefits for bilateral U.S.-Turkish relations.  The 
project, which emerged out of a request from the Turkish side in the 
December, 2003 Economic Partnership Commission, focused on helping 
encourage bilateral trade and business ties by providing information 
to Turkish small- and medium-sized businesses on how to do business 
in the U.S.  A team from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce managed the 
project with cooperation by the Union of Turkish Chambers of 
Commerce (known by its Turkish abbreviation, TOBB). 
 
¶3. (SBU) The centerpiece of the project was a series of one-day 
workshops for small business held in five cities around Turkey: 
Ankara, Kayseri, Izmir, Gaziantep and Istanbul.  The seminars took 
place in July and September.  The U.S. Chamber pulled together an 
impressive array of speakers from the U.S.: representatives of local 
U.S. Chambers, U.S.-based lawyers who specialize in Turkish business 
clients, logistics and marketing experts, and local Turkish 
entrepreneurs in each city who had managed to break into the U.S. 
market.  John Bachmann, former President of the U.S. Chamber and 
current board member, opened each workshop along with a Turkish 
Chamber official and a representative of the U.S. Mission.  In 
Ankara, the Ambassador (see text on post's web site) and TOBB 
Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu opened the workshop and in Istanbul 
the Consul General opened the eent.  At each workshop, consular 
officers made presentations on U.S. visa policies and procedures and 
FCS described its role in promoting U.S. exports.  The workshops 
were well-attended, reaching hundreds of businesspeople from around 
Turkey, as well as multipliers such as representatives of chambers 
of commerce in other Turkish towns.  TOBB has put all the 
presentations on its web site and the U.S. Chamber is preparing a 
practical handbook for use by Turkish businesses based on the 
presentations at the workshops. 
 
----------------- 
Multiple Benefits 
----------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The project helped advance U.S. interests in multiple 
ways: 
 
--Positive press story: At a time of unrelenting anti-Americanism in 
the Turkish press - particularly in July at the height of the 
Lebanon crisis - the coverage of this event provided a welcome 
positive story about U.S. government assistance to Turkish small 
businesspeople and a desire to deepen bilateral economic ties.  The 
sessions in Ankara and Istanbul attracted national print and 
broadcast coverage, and regional press reported on the events in 
Izmir, Kayseri and Gaziantep. 
 
--Supporting U.S.-Turkish friendship: Coming on the heels of the 
Secretary and Fonmin Gul's announcement of the Shared Vision and 
 
SIPDIS 
Structured Dialogue, these workshops provided a tangible example of 
USG interest in deepening economic relations and increasing 
business-to-business exchanges.  The Ankara workshop provided a 
forum in which the Ambassador could emphasize bilateral economic 
policy priorities and situate them in the framework of the Shared 
Vision.  TOBB had long sought the project as a way to establish 
their first ever formalized relationship with the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce.  TOBB happiness over the project was manifested in their 
significant support and in-kind contributions, but perhaps most of 
all by the beaming expression on Chairman Hisarciklioglu's face as 
he stood by the Ambassador's side at the Ankara event.  The project 
deepened our good relationship with TOBB on a range of issues, 
helping to firm up our support from a pro-American constituency 
inside Turkey. 
 
--Deepening bilateral economic ties:  The practical information and 
business leads in the workshops and the handbook will hopefully lead 
to more trade with the U.S.  Now that the U.S. Chamber and TOBB have 
become well-acquainted the potential for the two organizations and 
their individual chambers to facilitate two-way trade is greatly 
increased -- a key objective of the program.  In addition to the 
five workshops, the U.S. Chamber's contacts with the Istanbul 
Chamber led to signature of an agreement for the U.S. Chamber to 
conduct additional workshops in Istanbul, for which the Istanbul 
Chamber is footing the bill. 
 
ANKARA 00005673  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
--Outreach opportunity: By holding three of the workshops outside 
Ankara or Istanbul, the project provided multi-faceted outreach 
opportunities, allowing the U.S. mission, but also U.S. business, to 
show the flag in three provincial Turkish cities.  Moreover, the 
workshops provided a targeted audience to which consular officials 
could defuse misconceptions about U.S. receptivity to business 
travel.  The U.S. Commercial Service presentation attracted Turkish 
business people who are interested in importing from the U.S. or 
looking for U.S. partners. 
 
 
McEldowney