Foreign trade figures for 2022 were announced with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Minister of Trade Mehmet Muş. Mustafa Gültepe, Chairman of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), stated in his speech that 2022 was a difficult year for both the global economy and developing countries, and despite this, the performance of the Turkish economy in general and the success of exporters in particular marked the last year. He said he hit it. Expressing that Turkey is one of the leading countries that provide advantages in production and exports during the restructuring of global supply chains, Gültepe stated that an export record was broken in 2022 and that records in exports do not come automatically. Gültepe emphasized that behind the success lies the efforts of the workers who work day and night, the exporters who travel the world step by step, the efforts of the economy administration that illuminates their path with their decisions, and the strong will of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“We broke an export record in 108 countries”
Gültepe noted the following regarding the work of TİM on this road where success is crowned with records: “In 2022, we did not leave a single country in the world that did not meet Turkish products. We added 21 thousand 501 companies to our export family. With these companies, we achieved an export of 3 billion 700 million dollars. 162 While we increased our exports to 108 countries, we broke the export record in 108 countries. The exports of our sector exceeded the 1 billion dollar limit. Last year, as TİM and exporters’ associations, we organized 72 trade delegations in 43 countries. We hosted participants from more than 100 countries with 38 procurement committees in our country. We participated in a total of 184 fairs in Turkey and abroad. We increased it by 14.7 to $1.44.”
“We will participate in a total of 250 fairs in 55 countries in 2023”
Mustafa Gültepe stated that they accelerated the speed of exports with digitalization, which facilitated their business processes last year, and stated that as a result, they broke a new export record. Stating that in 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Republic and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of TİM, they will organize 100 trade delegations in 60 countries and 45 procurement committees to host participants from 120 countries, Gültepe said that they will participate in a total of 250 fairs in 55 countries. Explaining that they will increase the number of Ur-Ge projects to 32, Gültepe said, “We will march towards the goal of becoming one of the top 10 exporting countries with our unions under the roof of TİM, with common wisdom and consultation. In summary, we will continue on our way, day and night. We will fly the export flag much higher. Let us have a word with you and our nation…” he said.
Called President Erdogan: We expect one more discount from your personal
Stating that he has some expectations from President Erdogan and the economy administration in order for them to reach their targets in exports, Gültepe said: “The reductions in the prices of electricity and natural gas used in the industry have been a great morale booster for all of us at the start of the new year. I would like to express our gratitude to you on behalf of our export family. We expect this much more discount. We have to increase our production capacity and renew our technological infrastructure in order to achieve our big targets in exports. Therefore, we think that the Central Bank and Eximbank should contribute more to our exporters with long-term financing loans in this process. All investments related to green transformation and digitalization We expect it to be included in the scope of support regardless of the region. We request that the inflation accounting application be brought forward to cover 2022 in order to protect the capital structures of our companies. We are waiting for good news from you for a modern fair center worthy of our Istanbul.”