Turkey to take new steps to help exporters: President

ISTANBUL

Turkey will take new steps to help the country's exporters, including removing the requirement for security deposits, restructuring Turkish Eximbank, and establishing a new fair center, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday.

"As our businesspeople produce, export and provide employment, we will all be able to look to the future with confidence," Erdogan said at the Turkish Exporters Assembly's (TIM) Export Champions program in the commercial capital Istanbul.

At the event, automaker Ford was named Turkey’s largest exporter, followed by two other carmakers, Toyota Engine Manufacturing Turkey and Oyak Renault.

Erdogan said an export development fund will be created with contributions from exporters to help remove the need for exporters to make security deposits.

He also said that the country's Eximbank will be restructured and strengthened.

Erdogan added that a new fair center will be established soon.

He stressed that exports not only mean earning money, and that trade is also not only selling and buying goods, as exporters are Turkey's representatives in cultural and social relations.

Turkey reached the critical level of taking a 1% slice of the world export pie, he underlined.

The rising share of high-tech exports in the nation’s exports, the growing number of exporters with over $1 billion in annual exports, and more and more jobs in exporting companies all show that Turkey is on the right path, he said.

Last year, despite the pandemic, Turkey showed a good performance, and the country is in a better position this year by reaching historical high figures monthly, quarterly, semi-annually and annually, he said.

He told how in August, the country's exports rose 52% year-on-year to hit the highest August figures in the republic's history.

"I hope the country will also reach the $20 billion export level in September," he added.