Those Who Can Manage Change Can Survive
Our record-breaking monthly exports continued into the second month of the year, reaching the highest February exports ever at 21.1 billion dollars. The number of sectors increasing their exports last month reached 20. Our entire effort is aimed at achieving a scenario where all 27 sectors increase their exports throughout the year because it is only with all our sectors that we can achieve the goals we have set.
In this regard, we have started consultation meetings with our sectors and held meetings with 21 of our sectors last month, and we will complete our consultation tour this month by meeting with the other sectors. In these meetings, we discuss our 2028 targets, projects, and projections in every aspect.
Nowadays, making a difference is not achieved by bringing new customs to the old village, the village also needs to be renewed. There is a change in the world that we have been struggling to keep up with. Global markets have been discussing the rising market value of seven technology companies known as the "big seven" for some time now because the revenues of these companies have surpassed the GDP of almost all countries in the world. Once, the world's most valuable companies consisted of oil producers and global food brands. Today, there is not a single oil producer left in the top 10 list. Most of the list is made up of technology companies, and the factor that has put two automotive companies on the list is their technological transformations and brand values.
The fact that the title of the richest person in the world still belongs to the owner of luxury consumption brands also shows the importance of branding more clearly. I interpret these data as follows; in order to survive in a changing world, we have no choice but to keep up with technological transformation or to brand the "right product".
As exporters, we need to take into account the demand movements and risks in markets. In this context, we have launched our TİM-Export Market Monitor project to closely monitor global trade and changes in demand, and the first study was published in early March. Thanks to the Export Market Monitor, which is also a first in Türkiye, our companies will be able to follow all developments in markets based on the fastest and most realistic data.
Today, as Turkish exporters, we are going through a period of competitive testing. Although we have conveyed our demands to the President to increase our competitiveness, as producers, it is time for us to enter into searches that will create new competitive arenas. I think TOGG is a good example in this regard. It was introduced to the rapidly growing global electric vehicle market as a new brand of Türkiye. Another area we can cite as an example is the increase in defense and aerospace industry exports. We need to multiply these examples.
The way to reach our export targets passes through these new paths, and we need to walk this path together.