Türkiye's exports in 2023 hit a record high of $255.8 billion, ticking up 0.6 % from the previous year, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced.
"Thus, the figure surpassed our medium-term programme's target of $255 billion," Erdogan said at the "2023 Export Figures Announcement Program" on Tuesday.
The exports-to-imports coverage ratio gained 0.8 % points from the previous year to reach 70.7 % in 2023, the president said, stressing that the country's foreign trade deficit narrowed by 3.2% year-on-year in 2023.
"Except for July, our trade gap shrank annually in the last seven months of 2023," he explained. Adding that Türkiye aims to boost its goods and services exports in 2024 to over $375 billion, the country has "more than enough power to achieve this target," he said.
In the third quarter of 2023, Türkiye continued its uninterrupted growth trend for the past 13 quarters by growing at 5.9%, becoming the second-fastest-growing country among G20 nations.
Continuous growth
President Erdogan stated in his speech that despite some being disturbed, Türkiye continues to grow, develop, and create new success stories in line with the principles of growth through investment, employment, production, and export.
He emphasised the significance of the success achieved in the economy, considering the challenges faced in recent years, ranging from terrorism and coup attempts to street incidents and currency attacks.
Highlighting that Türkiye's economy grew by an average of 6% annually during the 2012-2022 period, surpassing the global average of 3.4%, Erdogan mentioned that even global challenges like the Covid-19 pandemic, global supply chain disruptions, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the raw material and energy crisis couldn't slow down the country's economic growth.
He mentioned the positive development in the composition of growth, with a notable increase of 14.7% in investments in the third quarter of 2023, marking the highest level in the last two years. He also emphasised the contribution of goods and services exports to the Gross Domestic Product growth, which was 0.3 % in the third quarter of 2023.
Fight against inflation without compromise
Expressing satisfaction with the reflection of strong production effects in recent employment data, Erdogan also mentioned that more than 4 million additional employments were created in the last three years compared to the pre-pandemic period.
Erdogan emphasised that, like other economies worldwide, Türkiye's biggest concern is inflation triggered by the cost of living, and stated that they aim to reduce inflation to single-digit figures without compromising production, employment, and economic growth.
They will not allow those with insatiable greed to take advantage of various excuses to threaten the livelihoods, prosperity, property, assets, and money of the Turkish people, he said.
Fight against inflation
Regarding the dual-path fight against the cost of living, with controls on one side and measures and regulations on the other, he expressed confidence that the efforts focusing on investment, employment, and production, prioritising access to finance for exporters, will eventually remove inflation from the daily lives of the citizens.
In the difficult year of 2023, marked by challenges and trials, Erdogan acknowledged the struggles faced in the region and the economic challenges resulting from the earthquakes on February 6, which imposed an additional burden of $104 billion on the Turkish economy.
Despite losing more than 50,000 lives and severe destruction in 11 provinces, Erdogan praised Türkiye's success in quickly recovering in all areas, especially in production, after the "century's disaster," a natural disaster that no other country could overcome so successfully immediately after.
He mentioned the negative impact of the earthquake on exports, amounting to minus $6 billion.
Combating the politics of hatred
Speaking on the Islamophobic and anti-Arap sentiments fueled by the opposition parties within Türkiye, he condemned the spread of hatred through divisive narratives and mentioned a campaign targeting the tourism sector during summer, a crucial source of income for the country.
A similar wave is being tried to be created, this time through sports, with the support of opposition parties, Erdogan said. He reiterated that people being despised, humiliated and insulted just because of their origin is "unacceptable."
"We are faced with a trend that amounts to hostility towards Islam and xenophobia. Unfortunately, opposition actors also voluntarily play a role in this filthy, sleazy, extremely dangerous politics of hate to come to the fore."
Mentioning Türkiye's commitment to increasing the number of friends, Erdogan expressed awareness of attempts to destabilise the country through provocations and malicious statements, especially those targeting strong historical, religious, human, economic, and commercial ties with brotherly countries.
"We are aware of attempts to separate our country from its region, regional partners, and brotherly countries with strong historical, religious, human, economic, and commercial ties through provocations and malicious statements."
"Türkiye will certainly thwart these games, just as it has torn apart other dirty scenarios before," he said.
Erdogan urged exporters to play a crucial role in combating the politics of hatred fueled by Türkiye and Turkish-hostile circles. He called on them to contribute to properly providing information to the public, especially the youth.
Expressing his satisfaction at being with exporters and business pioneers who tirelessly work to increase trade and deliver Turkish products worldwide on the first working day of the new year, Erdogan pointed out the strategic yet challenging geography Türkiye is in.
He stressed the global importance of the region where Türkiye is located and stated that the country has successfully avoided becoming a party to the bloody conflicts in the north and south of the country, despite attempts by warlords who sought to make the country a part of such conflicts.
Despite third-party interventions, Erdogan emphasised their efforts to strengthen relationships with neighbours based on a "win-win" approach and resolve disagreements with some regional countries while enhancing cooperation.
The President also underscored their efforts to elevate relations with the Turkic world to historic heights, develop respectful collaborations with Europe and America, and promote positive relations with African and Latin American countries.
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