Mustafa Gültepe, President of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), said that despite the recession and uncertainty in global economies, especially in Europe and the USA, they will reach the 250 billion dollars export target envisaged for this year.
Mustafa Gültepe, who was elected TİM President at the general assembly in June, said in the first press conference he held, “Demand shift has started to Turkey in sectors where electricity is used intensively in Europe. If the decline in the purchasing power of households remains limited and production continues to shrink in Europe, this will reduce our exports in some sectors. can have a positive impact,” he said.
WE HIT THE TARGET
“We completed the January-August period with 165.7 billion dollars of exports in line with our targets. We broke a monthly export record in all of the last 12 months,” said Gültepe, “We follow all developments closely. I believe that we will achieve our export target of 250 billion dollars,” he said.
ACCESS TO CREDIT IS DIFFICULT
According to the news in the Evening NewspaperExplaining that they aim to increase Turkey’s exports to over 300 billion dollars as soon as possible, Gültepe emphasized that the way to reach this target is through capacity-increasing investments. Emphasizing that the exporter’s need for financing for investment will increase, Gültepe said, “The limited Eximbank loans, the limited amount of rediscount loans provided by the Central Bank, the restrictions on the foreign currency assets of companies in TL loans create difficulties in accessing finance.” Mustafa Gültepe underlined that the global economy has entered a period of great change and transformation and that Turkey has to act very quickly in order to turn this process into an opportunity. Gültepe also drew attention to the fact that in the January-August period of this year, the unit export value reached the level of 1.44 dollars with an increase of 16.7 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.
BANKS ARE BEHAVIOR AGAINST CREDIT
Evaluating the Central Bank’s reduction of the interest rate to 12 percent, Gültepe said, “With the previous reduction of the Central Bank, commercial loan interest rates had reached the band of 25-30 percent. Now they can be reduced to the band of 15-20. However, banks seem reluctant to extend loans due to the reserve requirement decision.” said.
WE MADE ANADOLU PRODUCTION CENTER
Gültepe stated that many provinces in Anatolia have started to become production centers in recent years and said that everyone has invested in the last 5-6 years. Noting that factory openings have become routine now, he said, “Moreover, the new generation does not attach importance to opening ceremonies. Recently, we opened 10 factories, we did not hold any ceremony.” Explaining that there is no room for investment in Istanbul and its surroundings, TİM President Gültepe said, “Everyone is trying to stay around Istanbul. I say to shoemakers, you are in the wrong place, go.” Pointing out that unemployment has decreased in some provinces in the East, Gültepe said that blue collar workers will end after a while and they will not be found.
