01.02.2024 Ankara
The Joint Council of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Chambers of Commerce of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) convened with the participation of Minister of Trade Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat and hosted by TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu.
In his speech at the
opening of the meeting, TOBB President Hisarcıklıoğlu reminded that he had
assumed the chairmanship of the Turkish side of the Türkiye-Pakistan Bilateral
Joint Chamber and said, “We have carried out many productive works together.
Under his leadership, we broke records in export volume despite the recession
in the world. Our share in world markets exceeded 1 percent for the first
time.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that Minister Bolat pioneered the preparation and implementation of regulations
for the effective and healthy functioning of the domestic market and said, “In
this way, for example, order and order came to the zero and second-hand markets
in the automotive sector. We have always witnessed the importance he attached
to dialogue and consultation for years, and now we see the same visionary and
determined approach in his ministerial duty. We find this approach of our
minister very valuable in terms of solving the problems experienced by our
sectors.”
- Trade Minister Ömer Bolat
Minister of Trade Ömer
Bolat informed the joint council with a broad presentation on the activities
for 2023. Bolat stated that some countries export with dumping and diversion of
origin, and said, “There are countries that try not to buy our products,
countries that create customs barriers and non-tariff barriers. We are not in
the position of docile sheep at this point. We are implementing and will
continue to implement an active trade policy in terms of countries and their
products that harm our domestic and national production and do things against
the rules of the World Trade Organization.”
- “There is no decline in our trade with the EU”
In his speech, Minister
Bolat stated that Türkiye's export situation with the United States is good,
“There is a slight decrease in our exports, but we maintain our position. There
is no decline in our trade with the EU. Our trade with Europe has increased to
210 billion dollars.”
Stating that they have
achieved a 7-fold increase in the last 21 years with 255.8 billion dollars of
exports, Minister Bolat said, “Our 2024 target is 267 billion dollars. In other
words, we need to achieve an increase of approximately 4 to 5 percent.”