(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) The Confederation of British Industry waded into the EU membership debate Wednesday, saying businesses "must be crystal clear that membership is in our national interest."

"The question is not whether the U.K. would survive outside the EU, but whether it would thrive," CBI President Sir Mike Rake said at the employers' association annual dinner in London.

"No one has yet set out a credible alternative future to EU membership," he said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to hold an in-out referendum on Britain's membership in the EU by 2017.

"We need to remind ourselves that we're part of a market of 500 million people, to which 50 percent of our exports go," Sir Mike told the BBC before his speech.

The CBI president's comments come as business organizations choose their sides in a debate that will dominate Britain's political sphere for the next two years.

"In the months to come, our country will have to make its own choice," Sir Mike said. "A choice between openness and isolation. Between shaping the future or retreating into the past."

Deutsche Bank was the first financial institution to break cover and publically announce it would consider moving its part of its London-based business out of the U.K. if it were to leave the EU.

"Business has increasingly spoken out on this crucial issue and the time has come to turn up the volume," Sir Mike said. "Speaking out clearly and in a language which people can understand."

The chairman of construction equipment firm JCB said Monday, however, that an EU exit would not adversely impact trade with Europe.

"We are the fifth or sixth largest economy in the world. We could exist on our own - peacefully and sensibly," Lord Bamford told the BBC.

Cameron wants to hold the referendum after attempting to renegotiate the terms of the U.K.'s membership

"Reform will not happen overnight," Sir Mike said.

"But by working with our allies on an ambitious € yet achievable € agenda, we can make it a reality. So we support the prime minister's drive for a more competitive EU. And the new government can count on business's support to make this happen."