President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “It is a significant accomplishment that our country’s name comes to the forefront in the quest for alternative destinations to the Asian-based production and supply network. As a government that has implemented historic reforms in every field over the last 19 years, we are determined not to invalidate this trust in Türkiye.”
President Erdoğan sent a video message to the “Regional Finance Conference”.
Starting his speech by greeting the participants, President Erdoğan wished the conference would yield auspicious results and new collaborations.
Pointing out that for approximately two years, there had been a struggle against a global crisis that had an economic dimension as well as health, President Erdoğan stated that last year’s financial figures demonstrated unequivocally the type of storm into which the world was being swept.
Highlighting that the global economy was in recession by 3.5 per cent and the worldwide trade was in recession by nearly 10 per cent in 2020, President Erdoğan emphasised that while international direct investments fell by 42 per cent, the global debt total hit 282 trillion dollars, the highest level in history.
Noting that global food and commodity prices surpassed previous ten-year highs, President Erdoğan said that many countries attempted to overcome that crisis by retreating into their own shells rather than opening up and sharing the burden.
Stating that particularly the disruptions in production and supply chains created issues that could last for years, President Erdoğan continued:
“As Türkiye, we have taken a different approach during this process, both in terms of fighting the pandemic and in terms of our economy. Even during the pandemic’s most severe phases, we have not chosen to shut down production, logistics, employment, or industry. With our aids and incentives, we have stood by our business world, trade experts, SMEs, farmers, and shopkeepers. Thus, despite the negative economic climate, setbacks in supply chains, and rising protectionism, we ended 2020 with growth. With a rate of 1.8 per cent, we were among the G20 countries that experienced the fastest growth as well as the greatest increase in industrial production in 2020. We have maintained this momentum, growing at a rate of 7.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 and 21.7 per cent in the second quarter. Likewise, we have set a new record for exports, surpassing 212 billion dollars on an annual basis. Globally, investment fell by 35 per cent during the pandemic; however, our country continued to grow at a near-constant rate. Inshallah, we envision to end 2021 with a growth rate of 9 per cent.”
Adding that the international investor interest in Türkiye had increased in parallel with those accomplishments, President Erdoğan said, “It is a significant accomplishment that our country’s name comes to the forefront in the quest for alternative destinations to the Asian-based production and supply network. As a government that has implemented historic reforms in every field over the last 19 years, we are determined not to invalidate this trust in Türkiye.”
“We expect investors to make use of the opportunities”
President Erdoğan said, “With the Istanbul Finance Centre, we aim to establish ourselves as one of the world’s leading centres in this field. We wish that this project would also serve as a hub for Islamic finance. We will, inshallah, conclude our legislative work on this matter soon.” and continued his remarks as follows:
“Our country’s legislation is highly appealing to international investors in terms of prospects for business start-up and operation. Opportunities such as VAT exemption, tax reduction, customs duty exemption, and investment site allocation provide favourable conditions, especially for strategic investments. Along with industrialisation, our efforts to improve the infrastructural environment and our moves to connect transportation corridors provide investors with new windows of opportunity. We can collaborate in various industries, ranging from energy to transportation, defence industry to technology, finance to food. We expect investors to make the most efficient use of these opportunities.”
President Erdoğan wished the Regional Finance Conference success and to yield auspicious results, pointing out that the relevant institutions would support the business people from the beginning to the end of their investments.