Addressing the Ford Otosan Future Vision Meeting, President Erdoğan stated that electric cars and batteries will be produced in addition to diesel and gasoline vehicles at the facility to be built, and said: “Our country will thereby obtain the capacity to produce 130 thousand batteries. Thanks to this investment, Turkey will be the biggest production center of electric and connected commercial vehicles in the automotive industry of the future.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the Ford Otosan Future Vision Meeting at the Presidential Complex.
Making a speech at the meeting, President Erdoğan stated that an important step will be taken during the meeting towards making Turkey a center of technology and production with the signing of the purchase contract between Ford Otosan and Ford Europe.
“WE SUPPORT ALL THE INVESTORS WHO BELIEVE IN OUR COUNTRY’S POTENTIAL”
“We continue to support all the investors who make production on these lands, create employment and believe in our country’s power and potential,” the President stressed. “Today’s signing ceremony is the best example of Turkey’s embracing and supportive stance regarding investments. Carrying out 25% of automotive production and exports in Turkey currently, Ford Otosan creates employment for 12,500 citizens of ours. This company plays a very critical role in our country’s development by carrying out nearly 70 percent of its production indigenously and with its exports rate reaching 90 percent. With this investment, which will enable the transformation of Turkey’s automotive industry through electric and connected vehicles, Ford Otosan sets out a great vision that will affect the next decade in terms of R&D, exports, production, and value added.”
Stating that electric vehicles and batteries will be produced in addition to diesel and gasoline vehicles at the facility to be built, President Erdoğan said: “Our country will thereby obtain the capacity to produce 130 thousand batteries. Thanks to this investment, Turkey will be the biggest production center of electric and connected commercial vehicles in the automotive industry of the future.”
The investment will also help Turkish engineers gain significant skills in the designing, development and software of electric vehicles and batteries, the President said. “I wholeheartedly congratulate Ford Otosan for investing in the future of the automotive industry in Turkey.”
“WE HAVE CREATED AN INVESTMENT CLIMATE THAT IS ATTRACTIVE FOR ALL”
Drawing attention to the entrepreneur-friendly policies Turkey has been following over the past 18 years as the underlying reason for the continually increasing number of national and international companies investing in the country, President Erdoğan stated: “With the reforms we have introduced, we have eliminated the domestic and foreign distinction among investors and have thus created an investment climate that is attractive for all.”
“The Turkish economy has successfully been managing its recovery process while many other countries have been experiencing economic contraction due to the pandemic. Despite all the propaganda activities targeting our country, Turkey ended 2020 with 1.8 growth rate. We, with this rate, achieved the second biggest growth within the G20 after China,” the President said.
Describing manufacturing industry as the locomotive of the Turkish economy’s success, President Erdoğan said: “Our manufacturing industry was the sector that provided the biggest contribution to our GDP with its 10.5 percent growth rate in the fourth quarter of last year. Yet again in the same period, we were one of the G20 countries whose industrial production increased the most. Our industry sector further consolidated its success by creating 337 thousand additional employment amid the pandemic conditions. In this period, our automotive industry preserved its leading position in our foreign trade with its exports worth more than 25 billion dollars.”
“TURKEY WILL OBTAIN ITS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN THE GLOBAL ORDER THAT WILL BE RESTRUCTURED IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE COVID-19”
Expressing Turkey’s confidence that 2021 will be a year when victory will be achieved in the fight against the pandemic and when a period of quality growth will start in the medium term, President Erdoğan said: “With its geographical location and strong infrastructure as well as with the resilience it has gained against shocks, Turkey will definitely obtain its rightful place in the global order that will be restructured in the aftermath of the COVID-19.”
Highlighting Turkey’s goal to become a leader in Europe and one of the top five countries across the world in the next 10 years in the production of electric, connected and autonomous commercial vehicles, President Erdoğan added that Turkey, which gives priority to battery module, pack and cell investments, is determined to become one of the most important battery production centers in the world.
