TÜSAYDER Chairman Gürkan Hüryılmaz assesses growth

Turning Trade Deficit into Trade Surplus

Striking results emerged from the VII. Procurement and Supply Management Summit held in Istanbul by the Association of Procurement Managers and Professionals-TÜSAYDER with record attendance. The summit, which brought together Turkey's leading procurement managers and was attended by 550 procurement professionals, saw procurement decision-making power exceed USD 50 billion. Gürkan Hüryılmaz, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Procurement Managers and Professionals-TÜSAYDER, stated that Turkey's 11.1 percent growth rate this year compared to the third quarter of the previous year is an achievement, but that Turkey's dependence on foreign sources for technological products and raw materials continues. Chairman Hüryılmaz said, "With the procurement decision-making power of over USD 50 billion created by TÜSAYDER members, we aim to turn the trade deficit into a trade surplus." According to the preliminary third quarter gross domestic product figures announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK); as a chained volume index (2009=100), gross domestic product in the third quarter of 2017 increased by 11.1 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. According to the production approach estimate of gross domestic product, in the third quarter of 2017 at current prices it increased by 24.2 percent, reaching TRY 827.230 billion. Gürkan Hüryılmaz, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Procurement Managers and Professionals-TÜSAYDER, made the following assessment regarding the growth figures: Noting that Turkey's 11.1 percent growth rate is a major success, he said, "As TÜSAYDER, based on 2016 data, we aim to reduce goods and services imports—which negatively impacted gross domestic product by 24.8 percent—by raising awareness of 'National Procurement'."

Turkey Growing Through "National Procurement"

Emphasizing that as a result of TÜSAYDER's work, awareness of national procurement in the sector is increasing, Chairman Hüryılmaz continued: "National procurement targets for 2017 across Turkey increased by 21 percent to 36 percent compared to the previous year. According to this picture, companies in our country will place greater emphasis on localization through 'National Procurement' both to strengthen our economy's competitiveness, reduce supply risk, and increase cost savings. According to Turkey's most comprehensive professional procurement survey, conducted with participation of more than 1,400 procurement professionals from 47 different cities and 44 different sectors in Turkey, 53.4 percent of companies in Turkey have increasing domestic supplier utilization rates among their targets." According to gross domestic product data for the third quarter of 2017 announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK); goods and services exports in the third quarter of 2017 increased by 17.2 percent as a chained volume index compared to the same quarter of the previous year, while imports managed to remain below the export growth rate, showing an increase of 14.5 percent. According to the same data; the ratio of goods and services imports to gross domestic product decreased by 1.02 percent in the second quarter and 8.61 percent in the third quarter of 2017. Thus, the ratio of goods and services imports to gross domestic product decreased by 9.54 percent in 2017. Recalling that Turkey continues to depend on foreign sources for technological products and raw materials, Chairman Hüryılmaz said, "As TÜSAYDER, we support validation work of our national manufacturers' products and the creation of national global brands from national contract manufacturing. Procurement from national manufacturers first is very important. With the procurement decision-making power of over USD 50 billion created by our members, TÜSAYDER aims to turn the trade deficit into a trade surplus."