President Erdogan announced the foreign trade figures for 2021

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that Turkey's total exports in 2021 reached 225 billion 368 million dollars with an increase of 32.9 percent compared to the previous year, "Praise be to this, this is a record. It is a record we have achieved from yesterday to today." said.

03 January 2022
Announcing the foreign trade figures for 2021, Erdoğan noted that Turkey's growth rate was 1.8 percent at a time when the global economy shrank by 3.4 percent, and that the driving force in Turkey's growth rate in the third quarter of the year was exports of goods and services.

Stating that the contribution of net exports of goods and services to growth was 6.8 points in this period, so that 92 percent of the high rate of growth was due to net exports of goods and services, Erdoğan said that the reflections of the increase in exports on growth are more clear, especially in indicators such as industrial production, capacity utilization rate and employment. stressed that.

"We consolidated our success by growing 7.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021, 22 percent in the second quarter, and 7.4 percent in the third quarter." Erdogan said that with this performance, Turkey is expected to be the G20 country that recovers its economy the fastest during the epidemic period.

Expressing that they have developed and strengthened Turkey with transparent and predictable policies based on competition with the understanding of a free market economy, Erdoğan said:

"The secret of the success of the Turkish economy, especially in the last 2 years, is hidden in this great change. For the first time, Turkey has become a country that manages crises, and even turns crises into opportunities, rather than being oppressed by the crisis. The alternative supplier search and regionalization tendencies that emerged due to the epidemic are among the reasons why our country is in global supply chains. It has highlighted its geographical advantage and paved the way for our exports.As of the third quarter of last year, our country's share of global exports exceeded 1 percent for the first time in our history. I would like to express with great pride and pleasure here that our exports in 2021 have increased by 32.9 percent compared to last year and amounted to 225 billion 368 million dollars. Thank God, this is a record. It is a record we have achieved from yesterday to today."

Expressing that they are happy to have succeeded in increasing their exports, which they took over from 36 billion dollars 19 years ago, to 225 billion 368 million dollars in 2021 by more than 6 times, Erdoğan said, “Our foreign trade volume, which was only 87.6 billion dollars in 2002, will reach 496.7 billion dollars in 2021. Our foreign trade deficit, on the other hand, decreased to 45.9 billion dollars with a decrease of 7.8 percent compared to the previous year, while the ratio of exports to imports increased to 83.1 percent with an increase of 5.8 points. The progress made in our period will be understood much better. But the opposition does not understand this business. Their problem is different. Our problem is love. My brothers just said it. Export, export, export." used the phrases.

Noting that Turkey is currently competing with the world, they are in a global race and the export record was broken in 11 of the last 12 months, Erdoğan stated that while 33 thousand 523 firms exported in 2002, the number of exporting firms increased to 101 thousand 386 by the end of 2021.

Expressing that while all 81 provinces exported in 2021, 78 provinces managed to increase their exports compared to the previous year, Erdoğan stated that the highest export values ​​in the history of the Republic were reached in the product group of 75 chapters, and the highest increase in exports was to the United States.

President Erdogan continued as follows:

"Turkey has achieved this as well. Our exports to the most important commercial partner, the European Union (EU), increased by 33 percent and reached 93.1 billion dollars. Moreover, we had a net foreign trade surplus of 7.7 billion dollars against the EU. The increase in our exports only increased to certain regions. Thanks to you, we are pleased to see that it has spread to the whole world in a balanced way instead of concentrating. It has increased by 22.6 percent, to the North African Region by 44.8 percent. If you don't go here... They say 'Black Africa'. Yes, these are the most honorable of creations. We went to all of these, we are going, we will go. How are our football teams here? half of them are from Africa, so the markets are also maturing the future with us. It will be better, I have no worries."

- "We have carried out our export operations to 205 countries and regions with our national currency"

Looking at the countries where exports have increased the most in terms of value, it is seen that the USA reached 14.7 billion dollars with an increase of 44.6 percent, the UAE reached 5.5 billion dollars with an increase of 94.3 percent, and the United Kingdom reached 13.7 billion dollars with an increase of 22 percent. Erdogan said:

"In iron and steel, with an increase of 70.9 percent, 25.9 billion dollarsWe achieved 25 billion dollars in bee and motor land vehicles with an increase of 13.3 percent, 20.8 billion dollars in machinery with an increase of 23.7 percent, and 18.3 billion dollars in ready-made clothing with an increase of 22.2 percent. With these figures, Turkey has become a country that has a say in world trade in many sectors. The kilogram unit value of our exports, which increased in terms of added value as well as quantity, increased by 17 percent to $1.29. In addition, we are increasing the number of countries with which we do business in Turkish lira day by day. Do not worry about the Turkish lira, our money is very important. I hope our money will be decisive, don't worry. As of 2021, we carried out our export transactions to 205 countries and regions with our national currency. Our foreign trade volume with the Turkish lira has reached 183 billion liras. We see that the strong performance in goods trade is positively reflected in the service trade figures. We expect our service exports to reach 53 billion dollars with an increase of approximately 60 percent compared to the previous year and to make a positive contribution of 23 billion dollars to the current account balance. We aim to increase this figure to 100 billion dollars in a short time with the new structure we have created and strengthened support programs."

In this respect, he stated that they have implemented a road map that will reach 10 billion dollars in software, informatics and games sectors, 5 billion dollars in health tourism, 3 billion dollars in education services, 2 billion dollars in TV series and cultural services sectors, which are among service sectors other than tourism and logistics, in a short time. Erdogan also said that completing the green transformation of the country's industrial infrastructure is not a neglected topic.

Emphasizing that they set the economic growth target for 2022 as 5 percent in order to quickly reach the position of a country with a current account surplus, Erdoğan said:

"Thanks to the strong performance in our exports, we have already exceeded the target of the medium-term program last year. We have set an export of approximately 231 billion dollars for the next year in this program. I believe that we will exceed this figure next year. That's why we are revising our 2022 targets to 250 billion dollars. I sincerely believe that you, our exporters, will make us feel this pride next year.As you move forward in line with this goal, we, as the President and the government, will continue to stand by you.
At our last meeting in September, I gave the good news of Export Development Joint Stock Company. We established this company in a short time, aiming to improve our exporters' access to finance and to solve collateral problems. I wish our company, which will start operating on March 1, 2022, to be beneficial to all our exporters in advance. In the meantime, I hope we will also activate our Financial Center."

- "We will also increase the budget we allocate to support the exporter"

On the other hand, stating that they will increase the budget they have allocated to support the exporters for 2022, Erdoğan said that they have implemented new support programs for all sectors that create added value, especially software, informatics, health tourism, education, technical consultancy, defense, machinery and pharmacy.

Explaining that they will be promoting the Far Countries Strategy, whose preparations are still ongoing, Erdoğan stated that they have improved their land, sea, air and railway infrastructures and developed new logistics solutions in order to maintain exports uninterruptedly.

Expressing that they will soon share the Overseas Logistics Distribution Networks Project, which provides more effective access to different parts of the world, Erdoğan noted that they are designing new strategies to move the country among the leading countries in electronic exports.

Explaining that the Easy Export Platform has guided more than 35 thousand registered users, especially SMEs and individual entrepreneurs, Erdoğan stated that they will increase its effectiveness by updating this application within the scope of new generation export models.

Erdogan, who wants the exporters, who are the field soldiers of trade diplomacy, to continue on their way without heeding the doomsayers who have no vision for the country and the nation, said: "As the President of Turkey, I trust you. I say that my Lord will make our way and our fortune. And I wish you all the best. I would like to thank the valuable members of the Turkish Exporters Assembly, our valuable exporters, who deliver Turkish products to all over the world. I congratulate our Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Minister and his team, who work devotedly to increase our trade." said