In the last three months after the elections, the Ministry of Commerce carried out an intense struggle on many issues such as the automotive market, exorbitant prices, misleading advertisements and promotions, stocking and counterfeit products.
In his assessment, Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) President Şekib Avdagiç stated that Minister of Commerce Ömer Bolat’s first months in office were a period in which many pioneering measures were taken to regulate the markets and the needs of the real sector were quickly responded to.
Noting that during this period, important and conclusive actions were taken to protect the purchasing power of the people and especially to ensure price stability, Avdagic said:
“The cooperation between the Ministry of Commerce and the private sector yielded many concrete results in this process. The measures taken by the Ministry encouraged the expansion of domestic production and the integration of the power of our people into the economy and trade. In this context, we also consider price fluctuations as a sociological phenomenon. The Ministry of Commerce has taken a proactive approach in decisions that have a direct impact on the pockets of the citizens and the production of the real sector in many areas. It has done this by increasing the competitiveness of the markets. The continuation of product supply under all conditions, market-making actions that protect the domestic manufacturer, which have passed into our business world. It gave confidence in 90 days. Our joint work with the Ministry continues to improve the export capacity of SMEs. We are carrying out a new process in order to ensure the competition of our companies, especially those that export services and micro-export, with the world.”
“No access problems”
Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) President Gürsel Baran also pointed out the stocking and access problems especially in the automotive sector in the past months.
Stating that the measures taken by the Ministry were received very positively in the market, Baran said:
“As a result of the measures and effective inspections taken by the Ministry of Commerce, the foam and inflation in second-hand automotive prices disappeared in August. There is no access problem in new cars either. The measures taken for fake advertisements and practices such as vehicle sales restrictions were also effective in balancing the market. Real estate and second-hand automotive It is expected that the positive effects of the new regulations brought by the regulation changes made last week in order to prevent the advertisements from being published on the advertisement sites with false information, will continue.
Baran explained that apart from the automotive market, there is also a struggle against the exorbitant price and stocking lobby, especially in basic consumer products.
Pointing out that the excessive prices in basic consumption products have left their place to the market’s normal, Baran said, “Despite the temporary increases in the dollar and fuel oil, and the adverse effects of extreme temperatures and drought on some products in agriculture, there was no problem in accessing any product in our country.” he said.
Noting that there are problems in accessing products such as olive oil even in some countries in Europe, Baran stated that due to the temporary export restriction on bulk olive oil in Turkey, citizens do not have a supply problem in the domestic market.
“Problems are being prevented”
Abdurrahman Uzun, Deputy Chairman of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MUSIAD), pointed out that the regulations made by the Ministry of Commerce to prevent unregistered and exorbitant price increases in the second-hand vehicle market started to relax the sector and that there was a decline in prices in this period.
Uzun said, “As it is known, our Minister of Trade, Ömer Bolat, held a large-scale meeting with the sector representatives when he took office, and he started to take very important steps in solving the problems experienced in the sector. The restrictions and measures implemented in this direction, as well as the announcement regulations, contributed to the prices and the market positively. “It has started. We see that prices are slowly coming back and the bubble is disappearing.” said.
Expressing that they support the Ministry’s measures against stocking and exorbitant price practices, Uzun said, “It is our ultimate priority that our citizens do not suffer from the supply-demand imbalance that is tried to be created in the automotive market.” he said.
Uzun added that with the measures taken by the Ministry, problems such as stocking and exorbitant prices in food and basic consumer products were prevented.
