30.10.2020 Ankara
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) Turkey Automotive Industry Council meeting was held via video conference chaired by TOBB Board Member Davut Çetin and Council President Cengiz Eroldu.
In his opening remarks, Davut Çetin first conveyed the greetings
of TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu to members of parliament. The first
case of coronavirus emerged in March, from that period until today, TOBB
business community and the government, indicating that they undertook a serious
bridge cetin, said that they conveyed the problems in the field very quickly.
Davut Çetin, published in the Official Gazette on August 30, 2020, the increase
in the automotive industry surprised the automotive industry, as a sector in
previous Parliamentary meetings demanded both scrap incentives and OTV-related
regulations, but the regulation as an increase in the domestic market
negatively impacted and reported that there were serious order cancellations at
that time.
Council President Cengiz Eroldu said in his opening remarks that
due to the demand that has been delayed for the past two years, the Turkish
market has made a very rapid entry into 2020, and then with the pandemic, 2020 is
a difficult year to predict. Eroldu stated that in the process of
normalization, the creation of the appropriate interest rate environment in
Turkey quickly increased and revived the market, resulting in a very active
market since July.
Eroldu thanked the government officials for making very quick
decisions in the pandemic process, stating that when looking at September, the
share of light vehicles produced in Turkey reached 50% of the total market,
which is the effect of both policies and the Turkish automotive industry being
flexible and fast.
Reporting that while there is a good outlook in the domestic
market, especially the largest market, the Western European market is affected
by pandemic resulting in a significant drop in exports, Eroldu noted that in the
first 9 months, while the European market shrank by 29%, looking at September
alone, a growth of 3.1% points to a positive signal. Eroldu said that the
pandemic effects have accelerated somewhat in Europe in recent days, and that
they are concerned that the market trend of improvement will be negatively
affected due to the impact of the second wave of the pandemic in Europe.
Eroldu said that the other issue that another issue the automotive
industry can be proud of during the pandemic period was increasing employment.
Looking at the figures for the first 9 months, despite a 19% production decline
in the automotive industry, employment increased by 4%, indicative of increased
capacity utility and production speed in recent months.
Eroldu said that they predict that an expected 5% growth in Turkey
in 2021 will have a positive impact on the domestic market.
At the meeting, views were shared with the participation of Ahmet
Karabay, Deputy Director General of the General Directorate of Product Safety
and Supervision of the Ministry of Commerce, and Aykut Kırbaş, Secretary
General of TSE, regarding “Areas Which Require Improvements in the Import
Inspections Process.”
Ministry of Commerce Risk Management and Control Deputy Director
General Ali Toksöz attended the meeting and informed Council Members in regards
to the Kapıkule Customs Gate delays and updating the minimum wage tariff of
customs consultants agenda items.
Current developments in the protection of personal data were also
discussed at the meeting, the Digital Transformation Task Force Committee
created within the TOBB, noting that initiatives will be made with the Ministry
of Justice on the issue.
The meeting, which also saw discussion about the EU Green Deal,
concluded the meeting by stating that there are significant changes and
developments in the European market in terms of regulations, that TOBB has
started to work seriously by forming a workgroup, that it is a very important
issue not only for the automotive industry, but also for the industry,
production and exports of all Turkey, and that it should be prepared well for
this new order by raising awareness.