TİM President Gülle: Exports in TRY Rose 58% in First 5 Months of the Year

Türkiye İhracatçılar Meclisi (TİM) Chairman İsmail Gülle stated that exports conducted in Turkish lira in the first five months of the year increased by 58 percent compared to the same period in 2020, reaching TRY 25.5 billion, noting that "Turkish lira exports were conducted to 200 countries and regions across different geographies in the world." In a written statement, Gülle expressed that Turkish exporters achieved historical successes despite the contraction in global trade due to the pandemic and economic contraction in world economies.

Emphasizing that the export community rapidly adapted to extraordinary circumstances and achieved a "V"-shaped recovery in exports, Gülle noted that TİM continued to work at full pace to reach its export targets and strengthen the "Made in Türkiye" brand worldwide.

Gülle underscored that TİM's continued support for the use of Turkish lira in bilateral trade increased both exports conducted in Turkish lira and the number of countries, making the following assessments: "In the first five months of this year, exports conducted in Turkish lira increased by 58 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching TRY 25.5 billion. Turkish lira exports were conducted to 200 countries and regions across different geographies in the world. Thousands of companies opted for Turkish lira in their exports. In the January-May period for Turkish lira exports, the top five countries were Iraq with TRY 4.4 billion, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus with TRY 1.75 billion, Germany with TRY 1.72 billion, Syria with TRY 1.36 billion, and Italy with TRY 1.32 billion. In May as well, exports in Turkish lira reached TRY 4.75 billion with a 74 percent increase compared to the same month of last year. In January, 6,235 companies, in February 6,159 companies, in March 7,175 companies, in April 7,628 companies, and in May 6,335 companies opted for Turkish lira in their export operations. We will continue to support the use of domestic currencies in bilateral trade." he said. İsmail Gülle noted that they are now in a stronger position in the global market, and that global value chains have experienced firsthand the disadvantages of abandoning production infrastructure in critical industries due to the pandemic and pursuing a strategy of producing in only one country with low-price policies and distributing to the world. Emphasizing that exporters who produce under all circumstances and conditions and meet their international obligations have reinforced Türkiye's characteristics as a reliable supplier hub, Gülle stated: "We are seeing the benefits of the restructuring process in global supply chains that has accelerated with the pandemic. In every sector of ours, as demand for our export goods increases, the Türkiye brand has grown even stronger."

Gülle pointed out the importance for them of elevating and sustaining the country's brand perception as much as increasing exports.

Gülle underlined that the demand for Türkiye at a time when global trade has slowed is an indicator that this perception has been created, stating: "To make this demand permanent, we are conducting work to remove obstacles before our exporters and facilitate their access to markets." TİM Chairman Gülle noted that the export community continues to grow every month, and since taking office, they have been working at great speed to bring new members and new exporters to the export community in every corner of the country. Reminding that 16,217 companies entered the export family for the first time in 2020, the most difficult period of the pandemic, Gülle continued as follows: "These companies achieved USD 955.615 million in exports. In the first five months of this year, despite the contraction in global trade due to the pandemic and economic contraction in world economies, the number of companies exporting for the first time has reached a total of 7,577. The total export figure for all our companies that said hello to exports for the first time this year is USD 773 million. The success of these companies also shows that we are advancing steadily toward our USD 200 billion export target." he said.

Gülle informed that they organized the "TİM SME Export Mobilization" program to promote exports and initiate companies into exporting, and that they examined many models applied in the world in detail for this program.

Stating that as a result of their work, the "TİM SME Export Mobilization" emerged, containing firsts in its field, Gülle said: "Approximately two years have passed since our first training program. As a result of our training programs, on average 1,500 companies start exporting each month. In the last two years, we organized 13 separate SME Export Mobilization training programs. We designed our TİM SME Export Mobilization Training Programs for three target groups. The first is company representatives who currently own their own business and wish to engage in export activities, the second is companies that want to achieve continuous export growth, and the third is young entrepreneurs." he said.             Source: www.aa.com.tr