“We have not allowed the ever-changing global economic and political climate to divert us from our goals”

 

Addressing the 32nd Ordinary General Assembly of the Türkiye Exporters Assembly and Export Champions Award Ceremony in Istanbul, President Erdoğan said: “We have not allowed the ever-changing global economic and political climate to divert us from our goals. 2024 was a year of significant achievements for our country. Our economy grew by 3.2 percent as a result of our growth strategy focused on investment, employment, production and exports.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at the 32nd Ordinary General Assembly of the Türkiye Exporters Assembly and Export Champions Award Ceremony in Istanbul.

“The Türkiye Exporters Assembly, beyond serving as an umbrella organization, has become a center of vision that shapes the strategic mind of export, offers policies, and gathers sectors around shared targets,” President Erdoğan said. “Let me openly express right at the beginning of my speech that Türkiye’s highly hailed growth and development story is being written through the selfless efforts of you, our exporters, who are guided by the maxim, our job is production, our business is export. Our products that reach every corner of the world and gain a foothold even in the remotest places leave a major mark on the global arena. The term, Turkish exporter, no longer means merely a supplier but also a solution partner and a global brand. I congratulate you for making us so proud. I would like to congratulate all our companies as well as each and every ring of the chain extending from our workers to the transporters.”

“THE PERIOD WE ARE GOING THROUGH STANDS OUT AS A THRESHOLD MARKED BY EXTENSIVE STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATIONS AND HISTORIC BREAKTHROUGHS”

President Erdoğan stated: “The period we are going through witnesses not only conjunctural fluctuations but also stands out as a threshold marked by extensive structural transformations and historic breakthroughs. Even though we coped with the health aspect of the Covid-19 pandemic, which left its imprint on the history of humanity, the damage to the global economy caused by the crisis that the pandemic had triggered has yet to be redressed. As protectionist policies get on the rise again in trade, the liberal structure of international trade shrinks significantly. Trade wars fought through customs barriers further deepen the environment of uncertainties. We are faced with a process of increased risks and diversified threats not only in economy but also in many other areas from global politics to social balances. Our region, in particular, is waking up to a new tension every day.”

“More or less we can all see that it will take a little longer to restore the balances, achieve stability, and navigate from turbulent waters to calm waters. We as Türkiye always keep this fact in mind while determining our roadmap, forecasts and strategies. Never leaving things to luck, we get prepared for every kind of scenarios. So far, we have thankfully managed to keep our country at the periphery of the conflicts and wars in our region. We have not allowed the ever-changing global economic and political climate to divert us from our goals. 2024 was a year of significant achievements for our country. Our economy grew by 3.2 percent as a result of our growth strategy focused on investment, employment, production and exports. Our economy preserves the momentum in 2025 as well. Growing by 2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, the Turkish economy has achieved uninterrupted growth for 19 quarters in a row. We have adhered to our stability and reform programme despite the elections,” President Erdoğan said.    

“WE HAVE ENHANCED THE STRUCTURAL RESILIENCE OF OUR ECONOMY AND MINIMIZED OUR VULNERABILITIES”

President Erdoğan went on: “Thanks to the programme, we have enhanced the structural resilience of our economy and minimized our vulnerabilities by cutting down our dependency on foreign resources. Not wavering despite all the shocks sustained particularly in the last three months, the programme has proven its resilience and gained refreshed confidence. Since early May, our reserves have started to increase again, with our risk premium receding and the confidence in the Turkish lira growing. We maintain our unwavering stance in fighting inflation. In May, annual inflation fell to the lowest level of the past 3.5 years. We expect to see the 20s in inflation by the end of the year”.

“We continue our progress with firm steps on the exports front as well,” President Erdoğan stressed. “2024 has gone down in history as a year of records in exports. In 2024, our exports reached a record high of 262 billion dollars. We increased our share from global exports to 1.07 percent. Last year, the number of our companies with exports worth 1 billion dollars or more increased to 18, and the number of our companies with exports worth 100 million dollars or more to 302. We preserve our pace in 2025, too. Our exports in May reached 24.8 billion dollars, growing by 2.7 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. This is the highest monthly export figure in the history of the Republic.”

President Erdoğan stated: “From free trade agreements to preferential trade agreements, from the reciprocal promotion of investments to the prevention of double taxation, we have established the entire necessary legal infrastructure to incentivize our exporters, and continue to do so. In 2024, we allocated 24.7 billion Turkish liras in total for our companies to support exports in goods and services. In 2025, we are putting at your disposal a support budget of nearly 33 billion Turkish liras. Factors such as the escalating geopolitical tensions and the rising risk of trade wars remind us of the need for larger geographical diversity in our exports. By 2028, we aim to increase our exports to distant countries to 50 billion dollars and raise the share of OIC countries in our total exports to 30 percent.”

“WE ARE ONE OF THE LEADING MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY PRODUCERS GLOBALLY IN NUMEROUS SECTORS”

Pointing out that Türkiye is one of the leading manufacturing industry producers globally in numerous sectors including defense and aviation, white goods, automotive and energy, President Erdoğan said: “In 2002, the share of indigenous production in defense and aviation stood at 20 percent and its exports at 248 million dollars. In 2024, it became a source of pride for us with its turnover exceeding 15 billion dollars and with its 6.7 billion dollars’ worth of exports in goods to 180 different countries and regions. When NATO exports and exports in services are added, our exports reach 7.1 billion dollars. We have succeeded in becoming one of the leading countries in armed and unarmed unmanned aerial vehicles. Turkish companies produce two out of every three UAVs sold worldwide.”

President Erdoğan further stressed: “Pandemics, wars, global crises, or supply chain disruptions; none of them could deter us. Türkiye’s exporters have never backed down, no matter what. Your achievements have become hope for our youth, inspiration for our entrepreneurs. We expect you not only to produce and sell but also to accompany us in our blessed march. Rest assured that we will write many more success stories together. We will bring down the barriers erected in your path together. We will break many more records together. We will realize our ideal of the Century of Türkiye together.”