Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, in his speech at the opening of the Turkish Economic Council organized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), where the preparation process of the Medium Term Program will also be discussed, the TOBB Economic Council, which has now become a tradition, discussed Turkey’s economic structure with the business world. He said they saw it as an opportunity to strengthen the situation.
Yılmaz stated that, within the framework of the preparations for the Medium Term Program (MTP), which they plan to announce in the first half of September, they have been holding consultations with the representatives of the business world in the last period, and that they are about to finalize the 5-year 12th Development Plan covering the 2023-2028 period, and that they will present it to the Parliament in October. He emphasized that they attach great importance to the opinions and demands of 365 Chambers and Commodity Exchanges in 81 provinces and 160 districts, who are aware of the current situation and most important problems of the field and sectors in every corner of Turkey.
Yılmaz stated that they have realized many issues demanded by the business world through the Chambers and Exchanges under the roof of TOBB, and they have taken steps together, from the expansion of vocational training to the modernization of land customs gates, from the introduction of the licensed warehousing system to the digitalization of the Chambers and Exchanges.
“We will implement new projects worthy of the Century of Türkiye together again”
Explaining that they made the Chambers one stop in the company establishment process, Yılmaz said, “With the strong will and leadership of our President, we dreamed of Turkey’s domestic and national car Togg together, we brought it to our nation together, but is Togg enough? It’s not enough. With new ideas and new projects, we will implement new projects worthy of the Century of Turkey together again.” he said.
Yılmaz said that the world economy has been tested by many difficulties, especially health crises, trade tensions, geopolitical risks, the Russia-Ukraine War and natural disasters, and that this challenging process has led to the deterioration of supply and demand balances at the level of countries and regions.
Noting that while trying to cope with the global inflation problem stemming from the rise in energy and commodity prices, on the other hand, supply chain disruptions were encountered, Yılmaz said that Turkey, like the rest of the world, was adversely affected by these developments, and that the earthquake disaster on top of harsh and uncertain global economic and financial conditions. added that it was added.
Yılmaz stated that only this year, the expenditure to be made from the central government budget to heal the wounds of the earthquake will be 762 billion liras, and that despite all these difficulties, Turkey has managed to come to a position that distinguishes itself positively with its strong production and export capabilities, and that the Turkish economy has grown by 4 percent in the first quarter of 2023.
Reminding that total employment increased by 265 thousand people and reached 31.7 million in June 2023 compared to the same month of the previous year, Yılmaz stated that the Real Sector Confidence Index increased by 2 points in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of the year.
Pointing out that the exports realized as 20.1 billion dollars in July 2023 with an increase of 8.4 percent compared to July 2022, thus reaching the highest July export value in history, Yılmaz pointed out that the average-high and high technology product value of 2022, which was 37 percent, was realized as 20.1 billion dollars. He said that the share of exports in manufacturing industry exports increased to 41 percent in the 7-month period of this year.
He stated that in the first quarter of this year, machinery and equipment investments increased by 8 percent, construction investments increased by 1.3 percent, automobile sales remained strong in July 2023 and increased by 109 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.
“We will carry our country to the targets of the Century of Turkey with patient, correct and stable policies”
Yılmaz explained that the CDS premium, which was at the level of 700 basis points in May 2023, decreased to the level of 400 basis points with the effect of political stability and the macro policies implemented, and that the decrease in this risk premium facilitated Turkey’s access to external resources with its various institutions and reduced the cost of external resources to Turkey. noted that this trend is expected to continue in the upcoming period and the risk premium will decline to lower levels reflecting the healthy outlook of the economy.
Stating that they attach great importance and priority to financing, especially SMEs, Yılmaz said, “There is a clear difference between consumption and production in the quantitative tightening made by our Central Bank within the framework of the new monetary policy recently. While a more balanced structure is envisaged in consumption, production, export, A framework that supports investment is being created. Here, I would like to express that a special emphasis is placed on SMEs, giving importance and priority. Why are we doing all this? While we are fighting inflation, of course, targeting lower single-digit inflation, on the other hand, we are fighting against recession. “We have to continue without falling, by preserving our production, strength and exports. We are implementing these policies with an appropriate combination.” used his words.
Noting that their principles are transparency, consistency, predictability and compliance with international norms, Yılmaz said, “Our main goal is to increase efficiency in the free market and competitive environment. We continue on our way by improving our savings rates, increasing our total savings both in the public and private sectors, and financing our investments and development with healthy resources. “We have full confidence that we will achieve success together with you in our struggle to ensure macroeconomic stability, reduce inflation and reduce the current account deficit. We will carry our country to the targets of the Century of Turkey with patient, correct and stable policies.” he said.
Underlining that Turkey is a very attractive country for investors with its central location suitable for international trade, large domestic market, young and dynamic population, qualified and competitive workforce and investment environment, Yılmaz said, “We will gradually take the monetary policy, fiscal policy and structural reform steps. We want to improve the investment environment in Turkey, to provide a more favorable environment for sustainable growth, and to increase the potential of our economy even more,” he said. used the phrases.
“We care that you lead the indigenization and nationalization of intermediate goods”
Yılmaz noted that they are working on a target-oriented and guided system by making impact assessments in investment incentives, and that in the new period, they plan to ensure the technological transformation of the industry, to increase the innovation and design capacity, and to develop qualified human resources in order to implement the National Technology Move.
In line with this goal, Yılmaz said that they will work to determine the competencies that are suitable for the requirements of the new era that comes with green transformation and digitalization, to transform education models and to ensure the development of competence throughout the society in the name of sustainable progress.
“We will create comprehensive export support programs for the export of high-tech-intensity products. Exports are among the most important priorities of this period. We know that if we do not stand alone, we do not leave a stone unturned. We expect you to present the problems and problems together with solutions. We care about your pioneering localization and nationalization in intermediate goods. We believe that you will avoid taking positions according to foreign pricing or pessimistic scenarios.We will be with you with the result-oriented policies you need to enable you to export to more foreign markets, at higher numbers for efficiency in investment and production, and to provide more employment opportunities.In this context, we aim to increase the range of exports and We consider it important to focus on more distant countries in the context of market diversity.We know the potential and past successes of each of you.
We know that you have been a partner in our growth effort through investment, production, employment and export since the past. We know that you represent the Turkish private sector, which is trusted like a flag in every corner of the world, as well as local development. We want this experience to grow in our 81 provinces, from agriculture to energy, from industry to logistics, in the Century of Turkey. We believe that we will raise our cities affected by the earthquake together with their economy and production power. With policies and structural reforms that will reduce uncertainties, increase predictability for investors and other actors, we will overcome problems in the short, medium and long term, evaluate opportunities together, and hopefully we will celebrate our successes together again.”
