President Erdoğan: "Currently, the world is facing the possibility of a crisis in rice as well as in wheat, sunflower oil and corn."
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the 'Food and Energy Security' session of the G20 Leaders' Summit held in Apurva Kempinski on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Starting his speech at the session by thanking President Joko Widodo of Indonesia for his hospitality, President Erdoğan drew attention to the fact that the global economy grew by six per cent last year despite all the challenges. President Erdoğan stated that increasing demand, deterioration in supply chains, rise in commodity prices and shortages of raw materials had left the world facing a high inflation rate.
Expressing that the Russia-Ukraine War caused a bottleneck in the food and energy sectors, which led to additional increases in commodity prices, President Erdoğan said:
"During our G20 term presidency in 2015, we put food safety on our agenda as one of our priorities. When we hosted you in Antalya, we signed our action plan titled Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems. During this period, the issues we brought to the agenda seven years ago proved to be right. I look forward to your distinguished support for the draft resolution titled 'Promoting Zero Waste Approaches for the Sustainable Development of the 2030 Agenda', which we presented to the United Nations General Assembly this year as part of the Zero Waste Project led by First Lady Emine Erdoğan."
Pointing to the food crisis in the world, President Erdoğan said, "Currently, the world is facing the possibility of a crisis in rice as well as in wheat, sunflower oil and corn. The global fertilizer market should be rapidly stabilized. Otherwise, we will experience a greater food crisis next year."
"Over 10 million tons of grain were shipped"
Stating that Africa is at risk of famine with the effect of drought, President Erdoğan added: "With the motto 'The world is bigger than five', we care that the voice of Africa is heard concerning both global and regional issues. As Türkiye, we have made great efforts to ensure global food security. More than 10 million tons of grain have been shipped through the corridor we've established in the Black Sea along with the United Nations thanks to the constructive approaches of the parties. The İstanbul Grain Deal demonstrated that the parties managed to come to an agreement despite the war. Naturally, with your assistance, actions must be taken to remove the obstacles that create problems in order for the mechanism to keep working. In addition, we must take measures to transport the exported grain to impoverished regions, particularly Africa, where it is desperately required."
Energy Security
Emphasizing that during this process, the establishment of global energy security and consumers' access to energy in a cheap and sustainable way became a priority, President Erdoğan continued as follows:
"It is vital that we use the clean energy transition in a realistic, down-to-earth and rational way. As an energy hub, as we have demonstrated in the management of the food crisis, we clearly contribute to the security of our immediate region, particularly in Europe. As is recalled, the first-ever G20 energy ministers' meeting took place in 2015 under the leadership of our country. Türkiye has consistently exerted efforts to maintain the security of its own and the region's energy supplies for a very long time."
Noting that the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project (TANAP) has once again shown that the Southern Corridor is of vital importance for its functionality, President Erdoğan said: "In such a period when the global economy is going through great shocks, the world needs the guidance and cooperation of the G20 even more. With these thoughts in mind, I wish our meeting and the decisions we will take to be beneficial for all humanity, and I thank our host country, Indonesia."